LATROBE, Pa. -- It was right around this time last year that Mike Tomlin made the pronouncement that his tight ends hadn't been "consistently varsity enough."
That pronouncement came just before the Steelers made a trade to acquire tight end Vance McDonald in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers, showing Tomlin's lack of pleasure with the play of Jesse James and Xavier Grimble in training camp was real.
One year later, it just might be the JV team is moving up to varsity.
James and Grimble each had a big catch as the Steelers worked on short-yardage plays in a storm-shortened practice, beating strong defensive plays along the way to haul in contested passes. Couple those plays with what has been better, more consistent blocking over the course of the Steelers' training camp here at Saint Vincent College and there's a reason to believe the tight ends could be more of a factor in 2018.
"It's important that we make situational combat catches," Tomlin said Sunday. "That's exciting. You're talking about short yardage and Jesse on a seven-cut getting a significant amount of grass. It's important that you make defenses defend the vertical game on the field so you're not playing in a closet. That's what that play was about. It was awesome for him to deliver that play. Same goes for Xavier on the goal-line play. It's iron on iron. We need to be able to complete those things. We need to be able to defend those things and challenge each other in a controlled way."
That's the way both James and Grimble, who are 24 and 25 years old, respectively, took the addition of McDonald a year ago. While McDonald is now listed atop the depth chart at tight end, he's missed the past week of practices with a foot issue.
It's not serious, but minor injuries limited McDonald's play to 10 games for the Steelers last season. That was in part because he was so new to the system, having joined the team at the end of the preseason. So if he missed practice time in the week leading up to a game, the coaching staff wasn't necessarily comfortable putting him on the field.
That won't happen this season. But both James and Grimble aren't about to give up a chance at playing time without a fight.
"I’m going to play football," James told me. "Whatever role it is that comes out of it, we’ll see. That’s what playing here the past three years has taught me. I just keep doing my job and let things take care of themselves.
"I make the sacrifices to where I’m able to play week in and week out."
Availability is a big deal. And James and Grimble are making sure they are and have been ready to answer the call.
James' big play came with the team working third-and-one situations. He beat solid double coverage from Nat Berhe and Matthew Thomas to catch the ball and get both feet down along the sideline for a 15-yard gain from Mason Rudolph. Not to be outdone, Grimble, working in a live goal-line drill, went to the back corner of the end zone with Vince Williams draped on him to haul in a Landry Jones pass in the back of the end zone for a score.
"I think we’ve both kind of got the same mentality. We’re young. We know there are going to be ups and downs," Grimble told me. "I think we’ve learned and matured to accept the challenges as they come, respond to them. That’s what it’s about."
That's why neither player took offense at Tomlin's comments made a year ago. They want what's best for the team. But they also accepted the challenge laid down by Tomlin with his statement.
"I take it personal, but not personal to where I’m like, ‘Ah man, Mike T,'" Grimble told me. "Nah, it was like a challenge to be better. I feel like if I wasn’t good enough, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be somewhere else. I’d be bouncing around. I just knew it was a challenge. He wanted to see how we’d respond to it."
James responded with a career-high 43 catches -- and one near-catch against New England -- for 372 yards and three touchdowns, while Grimble had five catches for 32 yards and a score. Coupled with McDonald's 14 receptions for 188 yards and a touchdown, the tight end produced 62 catches, 592 yards and five scores last season.
That's solid production from the position. But the blocking needs to be better. James spent the offseason working to continue to build his body. Now, in his fourth season, he's continued to build his strength and his blocking at the point of attack has been much improved.
"I feel comfortable where I’m at. I feel strong,' he told me. "It usually takes me a few days in pads to get back to it. But it’s coming faster for me this year. I feel more comfortable in my stance and I trust my technique."
The question remains their roles. The Steelers have openly talked about incorporating McDonald into the offense more as a downfield threat, much the way they did when they signed Ladarius Green two seasons ago.
Yet James has gotten the most snaps at the tight end position in each of those seasons. That's why he isn't conceding the starting role just yet.
"Everyone has plans. We’ll see what happens," James said. "I feel I’m out there and ready to go. I’m playing every snap. I’ve played the most snaps (at the position) since I’ve been here. We’ll see."