Steelers WR Martavis Bryant Called In Sick For Required Meetings Monday

Update:

A Steelers’ teammate tells Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that WR Martavis Bryant did not show up for required team meetings on Monday.

One of Bryant’s teammates said the receiver “called in sick.”

Even with the recent trade request and other behavior, Bouchette reports that the Steelers are not expected to discipline Bryant and have no plans to trade him before the deadline.

• Ian Rapoport spoke with Bryant’s agent, Tom Santanello, who said Bryant went to the doctor this morning.

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A source tells Jeremy Fowler of ESPN that it’s clear Steelers WR Martavis Bryant wants out of Pittsburgh.

“He wants out,” a source close to Bryant tells Fowler. “Point blank.”

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Steelers WR Martavis Bryant responded to a post from “FantasyFootballCounselor” which included a video of QB Ben Roethlisberger overthrowing Antonio Brown on third-and-one in what appeared to be Roethlisberger forcing the ball to Brown as opposed to throwing to Bryant.

A commenter then tagged Bryant and said rookie WR JuJu Smith-Schuster was better than him.

Bryant responded by taking a shot at Smith-Schuster: “JuJu is no where near better than me, fool. All they need to do is give me what I want and y’all can have JuJu and whoever else.”

Bryant later deleted the post and it now shows: “JuJu is the future and got great talent and is going to be one of the best to play this game. I want him to get his. I just want mines, period, point-blank. Ain’t nobody did nothing to get me back. I worked my ass off to get myself back with no help and little support, period. In due time the process will show.”

This comes just a week after reports surfaced that Bryant had requested a trade out of Pittsburgh.

The Steelers spent the week refuting that Bryant wanted out and was unhappy with his role, but it appears as though he’s still harboring frustration with the current situation.

Bryant was suspended for the entire 2016 season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy and returned to the team coming out of the preseason this year.

Bryant admitted in an interview earlier this year that he considered quitting football (via Sports Illustrated) but he later changed his mind.

Bryant, 25, was selected by the Steelers in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL draft. He’s currently in the third year of his four-year, $2.7 million rookie contract and stands to make a base salary of $690,000 for the 2017 season.

In 2017, Bryant appeared in five games for the Steelers and totaled 18 receptions, 234 receiving yards and one touchdown for the Steelers. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 84 receiver out of 115 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding a potential trade as the news is available.