“The second half of the season Ben had a talk with me and it really helped me a lot. It helped me to relax…I think my production went up after that talk. I was able to be more relaxed and play the game that I’ve being doing since I was a kid. He hadn’t given up on me, because in my eyes it had felt like that. When he told me that it was like a second lung. Every day he challenged me. It was like he gave me tough love. He explained things to me. And he kept believing. I appreciated it.” — James Washington.



From Teresa Varley’s interview with James Washington at Steelers.com:

032519_JamesWashingtonA rookie season is one filled with lessons learned.

And for receiver James Washington, the biggest lesson he learned came from a play he would likely rather forget.

Against the Broncos, in a 24-17 loss, Ben Roethlisberger threw deep to Washington. Washington dove for the ball, resulting in a dropped pass. Washington knew he should have run through it, something Roethlisberger said he should have done, and something he wish he would have done.

“I’ve always been a guy that it’s my actions, it’s my bed I have to lay in it type of deal,” said Washington. “I’ll never run from my mistakes. I like to look at myself as a man and I’ll own up to my mistakes and try to correct them and do what I can do to get better.”

Getting better was delayed slightly. The following week, Washington found himself on the sideline against the Los Angeles Chargers, inactive and not having the opportunity to redeem himself.

“It stunk,” said Washington. “But you learn a lot that week because you’re sitting there watching the game, watching the guys who are playing. You see how those guys are executing in situations that you had and maybe you can take something from. That really got me. It gave me time to think about it and how I could do this better.

“It lit a fire under me. It makes you mad, but you are mad at yourself because it’s about what you do.”

Washington definitely responded. Before the Chargers game he had eight receptions for 77 yards. In the last four games of the season he had eight receptions for 140 yards.


You can read the full interview here.