After a bad couple of weeks in the spotlight, the Pittsburgh Steelers have decided to bench wide-receiver Martavis Bryant for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions.

Bryant recently expressed his displeasure with the team, dating back a couple of weeks after a win against the Kansas City Chiefs in which Bryant only had three targets and two receptions. After the game, Bryant expressed his displeasure to the media, saying he wanted to be traded.

Last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, Bryant had only two targets and one reception for only three yards. After the game, a fan on Instagram made a comment that rookie wide-receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster was a better player. Bryant responded to the comment:

“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 who ever else”

The comment was deleted soon after.

Bryant and Smith-Schuster’s numbers so far this season have been relatively equal – Bryant has 36 targets, 18 receptions, and 234 yards while Smith-Schuster has garnered 26 targets, 17 receptions, and 231 yards.

The stat that stands out is the difference in targets. Bryant is clearly targeted more often, but Smith-Schuster has a greater catch percentage. Though neither compare to the Steelers’ first string wide-receiver Antonio Brown, who has 84 targets, 52 receptions, and 765 yards (he leads the NFL in all three categories).

Bryant has since come out to show his support for his team, but still would like to be traded. This is most likely the result of Tomlin having a private (and unpleasant) conversation with Bryant.

A player wanting to be traded from their team is natural. Bryant wants a more prominent role on offense and he isn’t getting that in Pittsburgh. With the emergence of JuJu Smith-Schuster and Antonio Brown playing the way he usually does, Bryant has touch competition.

So, naturally, Bryant wants to go somewhere he can be the top dog on offense, which happens often in sports (ex. Kyrie Irving’s trade to the Boston Celtics in the NBA). The problems arise when social media becomes involved. Antonio Brown got in trouble last year for posting a video on Facebook live of Tomlin using expletives to describe an opposing team in the locker room.

Poor use of social media in sports has proven to create a toxic locker room and poor relationships between players.

Regardless, the Steelers have not shown interest in trading Bryant. But if they do decide to trade him, they have until Oct. 31 to pull the trigger.

Columnist Brent Jansen can be found on Twitter @BrentJans. Any tips or suggestions should be forwarded via email to [email protected]. For video updates from The Seahawk, subscribe to our YouTube channel.