Steelers wide receiver Sammie Coates has been the subject of praise from several sources inside and around the team this offseason and summer, but the train hit a bump on Friday night against the Lions.
Coates caught three passes for 18 yards, ran once for no gain and fumbled twice during his team’s preseason opener. While the Steelers are looking for players to help fill in for the suspended Martavis Bryant (and possibly tight end Ladarius Green as well) and like the potential Coates has shown for that role, fumbles are a big problem to overcome.
“I just gotta bounce back, I was careless with the ball,” Coates said, via the team’s website. “I just have to put the ball away. To be a guy to run with the ball you have to be able to protect it. I have to do a better job protecting the ball. I just got excited out there, being careless and trying to do too much.”
Coates will have more opportunities this summer to make good on the buzz he generated in the last few months, but so will Eli Rogers and Darrius Heyward-Bey and the winner won’t be the guy putting the ball on the ground.
