PITTSBURGH -- Eli Rogers is on the Antonio Brown achievement plan.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ slot receiver often walks off the practice field with Brown, talks with him in the locker room and plans to work out with him for a few days in South Florida before training camp.
"Show me the way, big bro," Rogers recalls his daily message to Brown.
Brown might be the only one destined for 100 catches in the Steelers' offense, but Rogers is positioned to benefit greatly from Brown and Martavis Bryant being on the outside.
And he knows it.
That's why Rogers -- who says he feels completely healthy for the first time in about five years -- is eager to counter a 2016 performance that was solid (48 catches, 594 yards, three touchdowns) but not quite a star turn.
"I've proven myself last year, I'm going to continue to prove myself this year," said Rogers, who missed one game last year after coaches deemed him not fit to play. "I'm not out here competing with anyone. I'm out here competing with myself."
Rogers considers himself "five steps faster" now that he's about two years removed from a foot surgery that corrected a stress fracture. Rogers entered the league in 2015 but missed that entire season and was basically a rookie last season. The foot injury bothered him while at Louisville, and though Rogers was technically healthy last year, he felt discomfort at times coming off the surgery.
Now Rogers is expecting plenty of room to maneuver if Bryant is on the field for the start of the 2017 season. Brown faced a heavy dose of double teams last season without Bryant, who was suspended for the season and is under conditional reinstatement.
Rogers said he's already having "visions" of offensive wizardry with all the Steelers' weapons on the field at once.
"[Bryant] can stretch the field, obviously everyone knows that," Rogers said. "We need that on the team, we need that in our offense. [Defenses] have to respect it, so you will probably see more two high. They already play AB two, three guys on him at times, so now they have another element to respect on the field. That will be great for me working in the slot, having those guys that wide."
Second-round pick JuJu Smith-Schuster and second-year receiver Demarcus Ayers are getting run in the slot during OTAs, Rogers said.
But it's clearly his position to lose, though his only on-field concern has nothing to do with the depth chart.
"Be detailed, show that I can be better than last year," said Rogers about his mentality entering his second full season.
