It takes WR village to fill in for Brown
The last time the Steelers played the Houston Texans, Antonio Brown didn’t just lead the team with 90 receiving yards on nine catches.
He also threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Lance Moore after receiving a pitch from Ben Roethlisberger, helping the Steelers dig out of a 13-point hole for 30-23 win in 2014.
With Brown out this week with a calf injury, the Steelers will have to look elsewhere for playmakers on the road against the Texans Christmas Day.
“It’s tough,” Roethlisberger said Wednesday. “He’s a special football player, brings a lot of energy, lot of smiles and laughs, so we’ll just keep encouraging him to get back to us as soon as he can.”
Brown leads the NFL with 1,533 yards on 101 catches. His nine touchdown catches are tied for third. He had two catches for 24 yards before leaving the 27-24 loss Sunday against the New England Patriots due to an injury in the second quarter.
It takes more than one body to replace talent such as Brown’s, Roethlisberger said, but he will expect the Steelers’ committee of healthy receivers to try.
“I’ll be honest,” Roethlisberger said. “A.B., you can’t replace him with one man. A.B. is not human. So we will have multiple guys trying to fill that spot, but I know we’ve got guys that are excited, willing to try and fill those shoes. I think Justin [Hunter’s] going to be one, I think Martavis [Bryant] will do some stuff, JuJu [Smith- Schuster], everyone, really, is going to have to step their game up, and that includes me. I’m going to have to be better.”
Smith-Schuster had 114 yards on six catches against the Patriots, including a 69yard catch-and-run on the final series. The rookie has 699 yards and five touchdowns.
Bryant added four catches for 49 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots.
“They did great,” Roethlisberger said. “Guys stepped up and played different positions. JuJu, Eli [Rogers], Hey-Bey, Martavis, so I’m really proud of the way guys played.”
Le’Veon Bell, who has five or more catches in each of the past six games, could also be worked into the passing game even more.
Brown, however, has more yards than SmithSchuster, Bryant, Rogers, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Hunter combined. Mike Tomlin said Tuesday it’s “too early to tell” how long he will be sidelined.
There’s hope Brown could return for the playoffs, though it’s unclear whether that would involve an extra week off. At 11-3, the Steelers are No. 2 in the AFC standings, a game ahead of Jacksonville, but the Jaguars hold the head-to-head tiebreaker should it come to that. The top two seeds earn a first-round bye.
Regardless, the Steelers’ final two games against Houston and Cleveland will show what their remaining receiving corps can do without its All-Pro.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Roethlisberger said.