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2017 Offseason Questions: Is There Cause For Concern Between Ben And Bryant?

The 2016 season is unfortunately over, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are now embarking upon their latest offseason journey, heading back to the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, formerly known and still referred to as the ‘South Side’ facility of Heinz Field. While the postseason is now behind us, there is plenty left to discuss.

And there are plenty of questions left unanswered as well. The offseason is just really the beginning phase of the answer-seeking process, which is lasts all the way through the Super Bowl for teams fortunate enough to reach that far.

You can rest assured that we have the questions, and we will be monitoring the developments in the offseason as they develop, and beyond, looking for the answers as we look to evaluate the makeup of the Steelers as they try to navigate their way back to the Super Bowl, after reaching the AFC Championship game last season for the first time in more than half a decade.

Question: Is there any reason to be concerned about possible tensions between Martavis Bryant and Ben Roethlisberger?

Opinions expressed in response to our content about Martavis Bryant’s comments that he made while training out west suggested a mixture of emotions when it comes to whether or not he was justified in what he said, as well as whether or not it was an issue, so it would seem fitting to bring it to discussion here.

As a quick recap of the background, Ben Roethlisberger has had a history of utilizing media interviews to send messages to the not-so-young anymore Bryant, usually pertaining to growing on the field, but he has over the course of the past year, including back in May of this year, made some fairly harsh references to his need to grow off the field as well.

While Bryant did not outright say that he was angry with the way that Roethlisberger, he did say that he hopes to have a sit-down talk with the quarterback about how things have gone on over the course of the past year since he was suspended.

In particular, he said that he wanted to get an understanding for why the quarterback chose to make the comments about him to the press that he did. He also expressed his tendency toward privacy when it comes to the personal struggles that led to his suspension.

Bryant also called Roethlisberger his brother and said that he loves his quarterback. Everybody knows that there is some in-fighting at times between brothers—at least those who grew up among them. But is there anything to be concerned about when it comes to resolving whatever this amounts to?

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