Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Vance McDonald has seen his role change this season with the arrival of Eric Ebron Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger spoke about his good friend's struggles so far this season. The 38-year-old shouldered the blame as to why McDonald's numbers have been down this season.
Via Matthew Marczi of Steelers Depot:
“I think he’s been doing really good. We’ve asked him to do a lot in the run game”, he said, before taking the blame for his receiving numbers. “I know that the passing stats, the receiving numbers kind of aren’t what anybody anticipated, but a lot of it has to do with me and the comfort of not playing as well as I probably should have—all of those guys’ numbers get affected when the quarterback doesn’t play as well as he should”.
Nonetheless, the Steelers quarterback offered his praises for McDonald, saying the 30-year old isn't concerned with his numbers and his lesser role. He added that McDonald is all about winning and has done more than they could ask for in his role. That's all one can ask for:
“You have to throw numbers out, and Vance is one of those guys that’s a team player”, Roethlisberger continued. “He’s not coming in concerned with his catches, yards, touchdowns. He’s concerned with wins and losses. He’s doing everything we’ve asked him to do and more, especially in the run game. Those long four-minute-offense, long drives have been spectacular because he’s had to do some pulling and get on guys and really kind of be a springboard for the backs on those drives.”
The Steelers are off to a 3-0 start this season. For sure, McDonald doesn't mind if his impact doesn't show on the stat sheet as long as they keep on winning. Pittsburgh is set to return to the field against the Philadelphia Eagles after Week 4's matchup against the Tennessee Titans was postponed.
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