The Pittsburgh Steelers lost a pair of superstar playmakers this offseason. Franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, though, doesn't seem too concerned by the departures of Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown, and not just because he grew crossways with both players last season.
Asked to single out a player who was impressing at OTAs, Roethlisberger initially hesitated to choose among a standout group, saying “it'd be hard to pick one,” before settling on wide receiver Donte Moncrief.
“I didn't know him, obviously, and now just getting to see his work ethic, the type of person he is, his desire to be great, his knowledge of the offense already,” Roethlisberger said, per Hunter Homistek of DK Pittsburgh Sports. “I'll ask him, we'll do no-huddle stuff and I'll give him a signal and I'll be like, ‘You good?' and he'll be like, ‘Yeah.' So he's in with [Steelers wide receivers coach Darryl Drake] every single morning, pretty much all day.
“You see the desire and the want to be great, so I've really enjoyed to opportunity to know him and to work with him so far.”
Moncrief, fighting to be Pittsburgh’s No. 2 receiver, signed a two-year deal with his new team in free agency. He had 48 catches for 668 yards and three touchdowns with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018.
The Steelers dealt Brown, who'd requested a trade, to the Oakland Raiders in March in exchange for third and fifth-round draft picks. Bell, meanwhile, signed a four-year, $52.5 million deal with the New York Jets in free agency after sitting out all of last season following Pittsburgh slapping him the the franchise tag for the second consecutive year.
Follow Us
Subscribe