Antonio Brown had a stellar preseason for the Steelers in 2010, matching fellow rookie Emmanuel Sanders for the team lead in receptions. And his first NFL touch went for a touchdown on a kickoff return in Tennessee. But he spent much of his rookie season either inactive or fighting for Ben Roethlisberger to look his way every once in a while on a team that included Sanders, Hines Ward, Mike Wallace and Heath Miller.
By the end of that season, however, Brown was filling a major role on that team, including making a crucial 58-yard catch against the Ravens against his helmet to help beat the Ravens in the playoffs and send the Steelers on to the AFC Championship.
James Washington knows all about that. How?
Roethlisberger related it to him last week when the two sat down for a chat in the days leading up to the Steelers' 33-30 loss to the Chargers.
What did Washington take from that private conversation?
"Everyone develops differently. He responded late in the season," Washington said of Brown.
Washington was inactive for the game against the Chargers as the Steelers (7-4-1) wanted to give him some time to sit back and watch after the rookie second-round pick struggled in a loss at Denver, failing to connect with Roethlisberger on any of the three passes the quarterback threw his way. Included in that was a bomb on which Washington inexplicably left his feet.
Roethlisberger was upset with the young receiver and wasn't afraid to express his disappointment, doing so publicly on his radio show and with the assembled media. That was the tough love. But Roethlisberger also wanted to make sure he let the rookie know how important he is, as well, something that was much appreciated by Washington.
"I wouldn’t say it’s new, but I can definitely see he wants me out there," Washington said. "He’s working with me."
Roethlisberger certainly was in practice this week. Roethlisberger doesn't practice on Wednesdays. But when he returned to practice Thursday, Washington was clearly his favorite target. By some accounts, Washington had 13 receptions during the practice. They then continued to hook up on Friday and hope to carry that momentum into Sunday's game at Oakland against the Raiders (2-10).
"I would think so," Washington said when asked if it was his best week of practice. "We’ll see what happens on Sunday. Practice is practice. What happens in games is different."
The Steelers, however, would love to get the rookie more involved. He's caught just three passes for 28 yards since Week 5 despite being targeted 14 times. Overall, he's got eight receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown on 25 targets.
It led to his healthy scratch last week in favor of veteran Justin Hunter, whom Roethlisberger also missed on three targets last week. The final one was a pass in the end zone on which Hunter left his feet to dive for and suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.
Washington's benching didn't last long.
"He’s been great," offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. "He responded well to it last week. I think we had good communication. It wasn’t secret. It wasn’t anything that was personal. It was for the betterment of him and us, and like I said, I think that was the right decision, and hopefully it will show coming down the stretch. We need him."
Indeed, especially with running back James Conner out with an ankle injury. The Steelers have been heavily reliant on Brown and Smith-Schuster and their passing game.
Vance McDonald, Ryan Switzer and even Jesse James have had their moments, but the Steelers could definitely use Washington being more of a threat on the outside. It would give them the ability to keep Smith-Schuster or Brown in the slot or put them outside, depending on matchups.
"I believe in him. I think he’s capable," Brown told me. "We’re definitely going to need him. We need him to make some plays."
Washington knows he's capable, as well. He tore up the preseason and training camp, raising expectations for the Steelers to have another solid rookie contributor in the same vein as Smith-Schuster from a year ago. Smith-Schuster caught 58 passes for 917 yards and seven touchdowns as a rookie, with the bulk of that coming in the second half of the season.
Washington's solid preseason play raised those expectations. Now, he feels he's more prepared to fulfill them after taking a step back last week instead of going through the grind of preparing for another game.
"It’s just working on basic receiver skills, catching the ball every time, making sure you slip it in, even if there’s nobody around you," he said of what he did last week. "It was just basically doing everything, just trying to figure out ways I can contribute.
"I guess expectations were high, but I had high expectations for myself. I’ve just got to keep working."
Just like Brown did his rookie season.