Coates wants to put bad game behind him

By Dale Lolley

LATROBE – For the second consecutive day, rains forced the Steelers to juggle their practice schedule Monday, with the team shifting its session to the morning from the afternoon.

Sammie Coates hopes that’s the only juggling going on this week.

Coates was itching to get back onto the field and begin erasing the memories of what had to be the worst performance of his career at any level during Pittsburgh’s 30-17 preseason loss to the Detroit Lions Friday night.

The final numbers for the second-year wide receiver show he caught three passes for 18 yards.

But that doesn’t even begin to tell the real story of Coates’ game. He bobbled a wide receiver screen pass, eventually catching the ball but being tackled for no gain because of the extra time it took for him to secure the football.

Then, he lost a pair of fumbles, one on a catch, the other on an end around, with the Steelers losing possession on one of those miscues.

And the pass Coates didn’t catch was one in which he appeared to go to the ground too early and couldn’t come up with the football.

For a player hoping to make fans forget about suspended receiver Martavis Bryant, it wasn’t the kind of game he wanted to have.

READ MORE: http://www.observer-reporter.com/20160815/coates_wants_to_put_bad_game_behind_him

Eli Rodgers is having a better preseason than Coates, IMO.

HeinzMustard wrote:

Eli Rodgers is having a better preseason than Coates, IMO.

Agreed, but 2 different WR's in position. Rogers is going to play the slot and Coates on the outside. That being said, I think they still might find the best combination of 3 WR's to be Brown, Wheaton, Rogers instead of Brown, Wheaton and Coates.

Coates made some nice catches and needs to be more of an impact on the outside. The big question will be next season when Wheaton leaves in free agency and who knows what is up with Bryant.

I think Coates just needs time on the field to blossom. He's got big play potential, regardless of his nervous mistakes.

Eli looks really good... I'm excited on what he can bring. I think the odd guy out could be Wheaton as the season develops.

I'm anxious to see Eli Rogers play more. I think he' can be everything we want in a slot receiver/punt returner. He's fast/shifty and so far seems to be fearless.

I agree with El-Gonzo. Brown,Wheaton/Rogers and Coates when we go 4 wide.

Ron Cook: Well-timed, well-placed push might prove to be key to Sammie Coates' career

September 20, 2016
By Ron Cook / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



Steelers wide receiver Sammie Coates pulls in a pass in front of the Bengals' Darqueze Dennard in the first quarter Sunday at Heinz Field.

Years from now, perhaps at the end of a long, productive NFL career, Sammie Coates will look back and remember a conversation with his quarterback as the turning point.

“I told him at halftime, ‘Listen, you need to decide what you want to do,’ “ Ben Roethlisberger said of his one-sided talk with Coates during Sunday’s Steelers-Cincinnati Bengals game. “ ‘Do you want to go sit on the bench and put [Darrius Heyward-Bey] in or are you going to step up and make a play? Because, right now, we’re pretty determined what we’re going to do.’ “

This was after Coates stopped running on a deep pass late in the first half that was intercepted by cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick. Roethlisberger wasn’t happy, even though Coates had a 44-yard catch in the first quarter to set up the Steelers’ first touchdown. Roethlisberger, as offensive captain, never has been afraid to use constructive criticism as a motivational tool. You might remember he did it with Martavis Bryant last season before Bryant had a big game in a playoff win against the Bengals.

“He said he wanted to make a play,” Roethlisberger said of Coates.

“I’ve got to go back to him. The deep ball to him was my call. I saw something. I came to the sideline and told the coaches, ‘Hey, let’s call this because we have a chance.’ He ran a great route. I threw it out there, and he made a play. That’s what we want from him, and he did it.”

Coates kept running this time. He ran by cornerback Darqueze Dennard to pull in Roethlisberger’s pass for a 53-yard gain. It set up Roethlisberger’s 9-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jesse James on the next play that gave the Steelers a 17-6 lead on their way to a 24-16 win and a 2-0 start to the season for the first time since 2010, their most recent Super Bowl season.

to read rest of article:

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/ron-cook/2016/09/20/Ron-Cook-Well-timed-well-placed-push-might-prove-to-be-key-to-Sammie-Coates-career/stories/201609200057

When Bryant gets caught smoking dope again next year and the Steelers finally have enough of him and release him, Sammie will come in and be the #2 receiver and be just as good. Steelers have a future of Brown, Coates, Rodgers and JJ. I like it.

If he develops as expected, Brown/ Bryant/ Coates/ Rogers would be a nasty WR corps. Then you add TE corps which include Green/ James/ Grimble and Bell who is probably the best receiving RB in the game, God bless any secondary defense.

OX1947 wrote:

When Bryant gets caught smoking dope again next year and the Steelers finally have enough of him and release him, Sammie will come in and be the #2 receiver and be just as good. Steelers have a future of Brown, Coates, Rodgers and JJ. I like it.

Don't forget Wheaton.

Yeah Wheaton is an impactful player as well. We have a wonderful problem at the WR position. We easily have the deepest corps of receivers in the league. The offense looked pretty good against Cinci at times, and that was without Le'Veon Bell, without Markus Wheaton, and without Ledarius Green. They also played a lot of the game in pouring rain and still put up respectable numbers. I shudder when I think about everyone getting back healthy, and playing in favorable weather conditions. Opposing defenses better watch out.

I've had high (no pun intended Mr. Bryant) for Coates after the news on Martavis. So far, I've been pretty pleased with him and Rogers. Obviously, AB will be getting a lot of attention so these guys need to step up and make plays when called upon.