Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Although the Miami Dolphins are 3-1 and the Pittsburgh Steelers are 0-4 at the moment, the “grass” is not as necessarily “green” as Mike Wallace had hoped it would be in his new surroundings.
In fact, “Butterfingers” is apparently more “worried” about the lack of deep balls which have gone in his direction than the fact that his team is in the thick of the AFC playoff chase after the first quarter of the 2013 regular season according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald:
"I’m definitely worried about it [deep targets] because it’s game four, … I’m not paranoid or anything but in Week Four it’s not the way I imagined my first four weeks going. Definitely not. I’m pretty sure it’s not the way anybody imagined it going. So for myself, and starting with myself, [quarterback] Ryan and coaches, we all got to do a better job and find a way to make it work."
As asinine as they are, I cannot say that Wallace’s “me-first” comments surprise me.
Everybody in “Steeler Nation” saw Wallace’s true colors last summer when he sat for the entirety of the preseason and tried to do his best Mike Merriweather-impression. Then we saw the drops and constant pissing and moaning about his role in Pittsburgh’s offense throughout the 2012 campaign.
While the wide receiver’s stats have not “eye-popping” (15 catches, 176 yards, one touchdown) this fall, maybe the coaching staff doesn’t want to hang their quarterback out to dry by throwing constant deep balls behind an offensive line which has allowed the most sacks in the league through the first four games (18 is tied with Jacksonville).
Although Bruce Arians didn’t take his quarterback’s health and well-being into account while Wallace was in Pittsburgh, that doesn’t mean that other offensive coordinators like Todd Haley and Mike Sherman want to risk their signal-callers being constantly obliterated on seven-step drops and long-developing pass plays.
Of course, instead of being a team player and celebrating the 3-1 start and asking what he could do to help the offense, Wallace simply seems more content to grouse about his role like he did during his final days in Pittsburgh.
I am sure that if Wallace asked some of his former teammates whether they would rather have “stats” or “wins” right now, they’d probably all answer with “wins.”
Then again, if Wallace was receiving more touches for the 0-4 Steelers, he’d probably crawl back to town in a heartbeat with his attitude.
Stats & Info. Provided By: ESPN.com, Steelers.com and Pro Football Reference
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