HENDERSON, Nev. -- When the Pittsburgh Steelers report to training camp in a couple of weeks, Martavis Bryant would like to have a talk with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
"I feel like we need to," Bryant told ESPN on Thursday during a break from his offseason workouts in the 109-degree Nevada desert heat. "We should have a man-to-man. Because some of the things he put out there about me, I kind of didn't agree with how he did it. So I want to sit down and hear his own opinion, man-to-man, about why he did that."
Bryant is the mercurial, high-ceiling Steelers wide receiver who was suspended four games in 2015 and the entire 2016 season for violations of the league's substance abuse policy. When Bryant got suspended last year, Roethlisberger was highly critical of him, telling the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Bryant had lied to him and that the team felt "let down" by the talented wideout.
"At that time, I was going through a lot of stuff. I wasn't really even worried about his opinion at that time, because there was just a lot that was going on," Bryant said Thursday. "He's my brother. I love him. But at the same time, I have my own family outside of football. I have my own problems. I'm not just going to come up to you and open up to you about what's going on with my personal life. That's not how I am. We just didn't see eye-to-eye on that, but as far as right now, everything's great."
Bryant was conditionally reinstated by the league in April, says he has been clean for more than a year and expects no further hiccups on his planned return to the NFL for 2017. He says he's training harder than he ever did before in the offseason. But he does think there are some things that he and his quarterback need to say to each other before the season starts.
"We haven't had that sit-down talk yet," Bryant said. "Hopefully we'll have it before the season starts. If not, that's fine. I'm still going to go out and perform and do what I have to do to be the best teammate I can be."
Roethlisberger said earlier this summer that Bryant had to "win back everybody's trust," and that he hoped Bryant would come talk to him. Bryant was asked how he expected that talk to go.
"It doesn't really matter," Bryant said. "Man-to-man talk. You put it out there, man-to-man, explain to me what you mean."