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He also made some blocks including Bells first TD run. Him along with 17 &84 make for a nimble, darting set. Along with Bell they really opened up the defense late.
All I want for Christmas (yes it is Ayers related)
- Thread starter CoolieMan
- Start date
Kid played well with his opportunity. Big catch on the final drive. James was big on the drive and Roger's had a big night too.
I was happy to see him come up big. IronMike and i said you were prob stroking it.
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Not a bad debut for Ayers. He should have another chance to make an impact next week. I must say, he looked very comfortable with what was asked of him.
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/s...cle_3fdc2294-cb1a-11e6-9b68-b35a1b5cc0bf.html
Rookie receiver Demarcus Ayers makes impact in Steelers debut
By Christopher B. Mueller Times NFL Correspondent 1 hr ago 0
Steelers wide receiver Demarcus Ayers (15) draws a pass interference penalty from Ravens cornerback Tavon Young (36) during the Steelers' 31-27 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas Sunday at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger had a simple message for rookie receiver Demarcus Ayers with 12:28 left in fourth quarter of the Steelers' 31-27 comeback win over the Ravens.
Just go long.
Ayers ran a go route up the right sideline, and Roethlisberger heaved it. He knew full well that it'd be tough for Ayers to come down with the catch, but that wasn't his complete intention.
As Roethlisberger recognized the coverage, he noticed Ayers was lined up across from a fellow rookie in Ravens cornerback Tavon Young. Ayers gained a step and forced Young to grab a hold of his jersey and take him to the ground to prevent what could have been a touchdown.
The play drew a pass interference penalty that went for 35 yards. The Steelers scored two plays later.
"When I came in the game, like I said, I felt comfortable in those situations," Ayers said. "No moment is big for me.”
It didn't matter that Ayers was a seventh-round selection in the 2016 draft, or that he spent a majority of the season on the practice squad before being elected to the 53-man roster that week. Roethlisberger had full faith in his rookie receiver in a play that helped contribute to the improbable comeback.
"I'm not looking and saying, "Okay, that's (Ayers), do I throw this or not?'...So you you throw it to him, and he went up and made a great play. I probably could have gave him a better ball and he could have ran with it," said Roethlisberger.
Ayers hauled in one catch for nine yards in the fourth quarter that led to a separate touchdown, and took no fear in the blocking game, either. On his very first rep, Ayers came down on a crack block and went full speed into Ravens safety Eric Weddle. It was visible that Ayers wasn't reserved while playing in his first NFL game.
"(I was) Relaxing, it’s Christmas," he said. "I forgot it was even Christmas being out there. I had so much fun," Ayers said. "Even before I had the catch. It was good to be playing my first NFL game in a big game for us, a playoff cinching game, we won the AFC North, I was just glad to be able to make an impact."
The reason he was in this position was because of his work on the practice squad. He earned praises from the likes of Roethlisberger and Mike Tomlin for his grittiness and work ethic in practice. On Sunday night, in the biggest of all stages, it rose to fruition.
"Guys like that, their hard work pays off," said Roethlisberger. "He goes everyday as the show team and busts his butt and gets hit and just doesn’t stop, so it’s neat to see that pay off for a guy like that."
Rookie receiver Demarcus Ayers makes impact in Steelers debut
By Christopher B. Mueller Times NFL Correspondent 1 hr ago 0
Steelers wide receiver Demarcus Ayers (15) draws a pass interference penalty from Ravens cornerback Tavon Young (36) during the Steelers' 31-27 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas Sunday at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
PITTSBURGH -- Ben Roethlisberger had a simple message for rookie receiver Demarcus Ayers with 12:28 left in fourth quarter of the Steelers' 31-27 comeback win over the Ravens.
Just go long.
Ayers ran a go route up the right sideline, and Roethlisberger heaved it. He knew full well that it'd be tough for Ayers to come down with the catch, but that wasn't his complete intention.
As Roethlisberger recognized the coverage, he noticed Ayers was lined up across from a fellow rookie in Ravens cornerback Tavon Young. Ayers gained a step and forced Young to grab a hold of his jersey and take him to the ground to prevent what could have been a touchdown.
The play drew a pass interference penalty that went for 35 yards. The Steelers scored two plays later.
"When I came in the game, like I said, I felt comfortable in those situations," Ayers said. "No moment is big for me.”
It didn't matter that Ayers was a seventh-round selection in the 2016 draft, or that he spent a majority of the season on the practice squad before being elected to the 53-man roster that week. Roethlisberger had full faith in his rookie receiver in a play that helped contribute to the improbable comeback.
"I'm not looking and saying, "Okay, that's (Ayers), do I throw this or not?'...So you you throw it to him, and he went up and made a great play. I probably could have gave him a better ball and he could have ran with it," said Roethlisberger.
Ayers hauled in one catch for nine yards in the fourth quarter that led to a separate touchdown, and took no fear in the blocking game, either. On his very first rep, Ayers came down on a crack block and went full speed into Ravens safety Eric Weddle. It was visible that Ayers wasn't reserved while playing in his first NFL game.
"(I was) Relaxing, it’s Christmas," he said. "I forgot it was even Christmas being out there. I had so much fun," Ayers said. "Even before I had the catch. It was good to be playing my first NFL game in a big game for us, a playoff cinching game, we won the AFC North, I was just glad to be able to make an impact."
The reason he was in this position was because of his work on the practice squad. He earned praises from the likes of Roethlisberger and Mike Tomlin for his grittiness and work ethic in practice. On Sunday night, in the biggest of all stages, it rose to fruition.
"Guys like that, their hard work pays off," said Roethlisberger. "He goes everyday as the show team and busts his butt and gets hit and just doesn’t stop, so it’s neat to see that pay off for a guy like that."
http://www.pennlive.com/steelers/index.ssf/2016/12/pittsburgh_steelers_save_a_season_in_com.html
PITTSBURGH - On Monday of Week 5, Mike Tomlin pulled Demarcus Ayers aside and told him he was close to playing.
So close that he would've suited up in the Steelers' blowout win the day before if he were on the active roster, Ayers said Tomlin told him at the time. Tomlin wasn't teasing Ayers. Barely a month into the season he was down to his third-string strong safety and having to dress at least one player he didn't plan on playing.
There wasn't room for Ayers to come onto the active roster, but Tomlin wanted to encourage the smaller of his two practice squad wide receivers. Cobi Hamilton was the other. He joined the 53-man on Oct. 15.
Tomlin would need them both to make the playoffs on Christmas Day.
Being on P-squad is tough but I just told [Ayers] to just recognize where you are," tight end Xavier Grimble said. "They do things a little differently, they bring guys in, they mold them, they develop them, they move them up. They've got guys who've been here, know the job, veteran players to teach you, to mentor you along the way.
Ayers, a seventh-round pick, Eli Rogers, formerly an undrafted rookie free agent, and Hamilton, who was out of the league when training camps opened this year, caught three straight passes in 21 game seconds for a combined 35 yards that sent the Steelers from struggling to tie to throwing for the throat of the Baltimore Ravens' (8-7) season -- all before, and so, Antonio Brown could drive through a pair of Ravens to give the Steelers (10-5) the AFC North title and playoff berth they clinched Sunday night in their 31-27 victory at Heinz Field.
The Steelers have a 2016 postseason to worry about due to players from the furthest fringes of the NFL. Those players fought through the repeated disappointment of full work weeks that ended in no chance of playing because they were members of the practice squad. And though on Sunday Ben Roethlisberger continued to throw inconsistently, a thinned defensive line was re-exposed in stretches and Brown's stardom finished the game, the same players had improved, in Pittsburgh, for the Steelers and beat the Ravens.
"
"So it's been done, to me."
Grimble is one of 11 players - nearly a quarter of Sunday's game day roster, including two starters - that spent time on the Steelers' practice squad. That figure doesn't include Eli Rogers.
Touring the Steelers locker room neighborhoods
He stood on the front steps of a dorm building at training camp last year with a broken foot, only for Tomlin to tell him was staying in Pittsburgh on the injured reserve, meditate through his year off the field and become the team's third-leading receiver this season. He snagged 84 of his 533 yards this season on Sunday.
"It's been a long journey. Like I said, this is my first season actually playing, we won the division and it just feels amazing," Rogers said. "It's been a long journey, a long road, but we're here now and just thankful, blessed."
The Pittsburgh Steelers' possible Week 1 No. 2 wide receiver vs. the Washington Redskins, Eli Rogers, came off nobody's Draft boards. He was nearly out of a job last August. Mike Tomlin kept him in Pittsburgh. Rogers, in turn, got his mind so much more than right.
Rogers followed Ayers' nine-yard sideline catch out of their second timeout by cutting 19 yards downfield on second and 1, springing his arms out for a catch that put Pittsburgh in game-tying field goal range with 50 seconds remaining on Sunday.
He set up Hamilton motioning to the left at the last moment before the snap and sending the Steelers to the 14 with 32 seconds left. Hamilton had spent one of his first days off in Greater Pittsburgh visiting a farm show.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Cobi Hamilton was moved up from the team's practice squad to the 53-man roster on Saturday. Sammie Coates is questionable to face the Miami Dolphins. Markus Wheaton will not.
Ayers had fought through the frustration of repeatedly thinking he was next on the 53-man roster. Week after week he would say he was close. He had good reason to believe as much. Ayers was, but it seemed no less sad when another seven days went by without a promotion and the player himself said coaches told him it would happen soon.
Grimble would see Ayers in the apartment building they both live in and throw him a knowing head knod. Ayers leaned on his teammates, he said, including Fitzgerald Toussaint, Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell and Ben Roethlisberger for encouragement in the brushes with being a full NFL player.
"Guys like that, their hard work pays off. He goes every day as the show team, busts his butt, gets hit and doesn't stop," Roethlisberger said.
Playing, even with little more than a minute left and Pittsburgh's season on the line, relaxed Ayers compared to the stress of waiting to. Roethlisberger had told him to Saturday night. The quarterback reminded Ayers he had been playing the sport his entire life, Ayers said.
The sheer fact of the conversation - "for him to be able to be talking to me, like I'm a rookie, you know?" Ayers said - was Ayers' last thought as he lay in bed on Christmas Eve, the night before the first game of his NFL career -- one that only came and was won after three injuries to fellow wide receivers, a backup kicker getting signed and cut, a Dec. 12 promotion, two broken fingers and a hurt hamstring for Sammie Coates and finally a game day helmet.
Said Ayers: "Even when I was making plays on scout team I felt like my time was coming and I wouldn't have wanted in a bigger situation or a bigger moment than this game right here."
PITTSBURGH - On Monday of Week 5, Mike Tomlin pulled Demarcus Ayers aside and told him he was close to playing.
So close that he would've suited up in the Steelers' blowout win the day before if he were on the active roster, Ayers said Tomlin told him at the time. Tomlin wasn't teasing Ayers. Barely a month into the season he was down to his third-string strong safety and having to dress at least one player he didn't plan on playing.
There wasn't room for Ayers to come onto the active roster, but Tomlin wanted to encourage the smaller of his two practice squad wide receivers. Cobi Hamilton was the other. He joined the 53-man on Oct. 15.
Tomlin would need them both to make the playoffs on Christmas Day.
Being on P-squad is tough but I just told [Ayers] to just recognize where you are," tight end Xavier Grimble said. "They do things a little differently, they bring guys in, they mold them, they develop them, they move them up. They've got guys who've been here, know the job, veteran players to teach you, to mentor you along the way.
Ayers, a seventh-round pick, Eli Rogers, formerly an undrafted rookie free agent, and Hamilton, who was out of the league when training camps opened this year, caught three straight passes in 21 game seconds for a combined 35 yards that sent the Steelers from struggling to tie to throwing for the throat of the Baltimore Ravens' (8-7) season -- all before, and so, Antonio Brown could drive through a pair of Ravens to give the Steelers (10-5) the AFC North title and playoff berth they clinched Sunday night in their 31-27 victory at Heinz Field.
The Steelers have a 2016 postseason to worry about due to players from the furthest fringes of the NFL. Those players fought through the repeated disappointment of full work weeks that ended in no chance of playing because they were members of the practice squad. And though on Sunday Ben Roethlisberger continued to throw inconsistently, a thinned defensive line was re-exposed in stretches and Brown's stardom finished the game, the same players had improved, in Pittsburgh, for the Steelers and beat the Ravens.
"
"So it's been done, to me."
Grimble is one of 11 players - nearly a quarter of Sunday's game day roster, including two starters - that spent time on the Steelers' practice squad. That figure doesn't include Eli Rogers.
Touring the Steelers locker room neighborhoods
He stood on the front steps of a dorm building at training camp last year with a broken foot, only for Tomlin to tell him was staying in Pittsburgh on the injured reserve, meditate through his year off the field and become the team's third-leading receiver this season. He snagged 84 of his 533 yards this season on Sunday.
"It's been a long journey. Like I said, this is my first season actually playing, we won the division and it just feels amazing," Rogers said. "It's been a long journey, a long road, but we're here now and just thankful, blessed."
The Pittsburgh Steelers' possible Week 1 No. 2 wide receiver vs. the Washington Redskins, Eli Rogers, came off nobody's Draft boards. He was nearly out of a job last August. Mike Tomlin kept him in Pittsburgh. Rogers, in turn, got his mind so much more than right.
Rogers followed Ayers' nine-yard sideline catch out of their second timeout by cutting 19 yards downfield on second and 1, springing his arms out for a catch that put Pittsburgh in game-tying field goal range with 50 seconds remaining on Sunday.
He set up Hamilton motioning to the left at the last moment before the snap and sending the Steelers to the 14 with 32 seconds left. Hamilton had spent one of his first days off in Greater Pittsburgh visiting a farm show.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Cobi Hamilton was moved up from the team's practice squad to the 53-man roster on Saturday. Sammie Coates is questionable to face the Miami Dolphins. Markus Wheaton will not.
Ayers had fought through the frustration of repeatedly thinking he was next on the 53-man roster. Week after week he would say he was close. He had good reason to believe as much. Ayers was, but it seemed no less sad when another seven days went by without a promotion and the player himself said coaches told him it would happen soon.
Grimble would see Ayers in the apartment building they both live in and throw him a knowing head knod. Ayers leaned on his teammates, he said, including Fitzgerald Toussaint, Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell and Ben Roethlisberger for encouragement in the brushes with being a full NFL player.
"Guys like that, their hard work pays off. He goes every day as the show team, busts his butt, gets hit and doesn't stop," Roethlisberger said.
Playing, even with little more than a minute left and Pittsburgh's season on the line, relaxed Ayers compared to the stress of waiting to. Roethlisberger had told him to Saturday night. The quarterback reminded Ayers he had been playing the sport his entire life, Ayers said.
The sheer fact of the conversation - "for him to be able to be talking to me, like I'm a rookie, you know?" Ayers said - was Ayers' last thought as he lay in bed on Christmas Eve, the night before the first game of his NFL career -- one that only came and was won after three injuries to fellow wide receivers, a backup kicker getting signed and cut, a Dec. 12 promotion, two broken fingers and a hurt hamstring for Sammie Coates and finally a game day helmet.
Said Ayers: "Even when I was making plays on scout team I felt like my time was coming and I wouldn't have wanted in a bigger situation or a bigger moment than this game right here."
Lol. Rooting hard for him Coolie. I thought of you when he made that catch
