Steelers Must Keep Darrius Heyward-Bey Active with Michael Vick Under Center

The Pittsburgh Steelers get deep-threat wide receiver Martavis Bryant back for the team's Week 5 contest against the San Diego Chargers. In fact, Bryant is already back, allowed to resume practicing and meetings with his team after serving a four-game suspension to open the season.

Quarterback Michael Vick, who is handling starting duties for at least a month while Ben Roethlisberger recovers from a left knee injury suffered in Week 3, said of Bryant via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette on Monday, "Martavis is motivated, he looks strong, he's very impressive right now. He's a great kid, wants to win and believes in himself."

And Bryant is ready to do all he can to help Vick and the Steelers out, adding, "We've got a lot of work this week in practice to get ready for Monday so we'll keep developing our chemistry and get ready for Monday. I think he has more confidence in me, knowing that I'll be there for him, to have his back, just like I was for Ben."

Game	Snaps	Tgts.	Rec.	Rec. Yds.	YPR	TD
@ NE	43	7	4	58	14.50	0
vs. SF	46	5	4	77	19.25	1
@ StL	43	3	3	19	6.23	0
vs BAL	52	5	4	31	7.75	1
Total	184	20	15	185	12.3	2

Bryant is going to provide significant assistance to Vick and the Steelers, given his size, speed, deep-threat abilities and red-zone acumen. But his presence should not come completely at the expense of another Steelers receiver, Darrius Heyward-Bey, with whom it's clear Vick has built a rapport.

Over the last four games, Heyward-Bey has played 184 snaps, or 71.3 percent of the Steelers' offensive plays, according to Pro Football Focus, and was a starter in Week 4 against the Baltimore Ravens. Because of Bryant's suspension, he was more involved in the offense than he was in 2014, when he caught three passes on five targets for 33 yards. 

So far this season, Heyward-Bey has caught 15 passes on 20 targets for 185 yards and two touchdowns. He's averaging 12.3 yards per reception and 46.3 yards per game. And in his first full game with Vick, he caught four of five passes for 31 yards and a score. 

Heyward-Bey has gone from a marginal player on the Steelers offense and a key special teamer to someone who can really make a difference. And given Heyward-Bey's depth chart status in the brief time that Vick has been in Pittsburgh, it also makes sense that the two have built chemistry more rapidly than Vick has with the Steelers' typical offensive starters. This is the player Vick has been throwing to the most and, as such, should remain a part of the Steelers offense at least through Roethlisberger's time off.

Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

There's no doubt that Bryant is going to have to shake off a bit of rust. Though he's been working out in Houston, per Bouchette, there's no substitute for working with your teammates or dealing with the speed of a live NFL game. Heyward-Bey has at this point proven that he can handle the duties of a full-time receiver, so it would be smart for the Steelers to divide playing time between him and Bryant, at least initially, so that Bryant can be eased back into the process.

That way, the Steelers can have their big, deep threat—and someone to draw coverage away from Antonio Brown—while still being able to move the chains without worrying that Bryant will pile up the little mistakes that can come from missing four weeks of the season. 

The Steelers can get the best of both worlds—a receiver Vick feels comfortable with, plus another that is a touchdown threat on nearly every play he's involved in—by keeping Heyward-Bey involved in the game plan. 

This can, and probably will change, each week that goes by with Bryant, and especially once Roethlisberger is back. But for now, the Steelers need to employ every strategy available to win games without their starting quarterback, and Heyward-Bey being paired up with Vick has proven to be a good one.