NFL draft: Family feud? Steelers receivers trade barbs on Twitter

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Southern California receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster with the 62nd overall pick, adding to a receiver group that can use some help.

During the NFL Network broadcast, analyst Charles Davis noted that the Steelers can’t really count on Martavis Bryant, who was conditionally reinstated this week after being suspended the entire 2016 season for repeated violations of the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

We can’t be sure, but Bryant may have either been watching or got wind of what Davis said, and took to Twitter to react.

Except when he did, he took a swipe at one of his teammates. The tweets are deleted now, but thankfully Bleacher Report writer Tyler Conway took screenshots:

Wrote Bryant, “lol that’s Sammie Coates replacement not [mine] take it how you want to I am back.”

Coates responded simply, “Hahahahahaha.”

Neither player should feel truly secure in his job; Bryant is a talent, averaging 17.3 yards per catch and has 14 touchdowns in 21 career games. But just about any NFL player or coach will tell you that availability is often more important than ability, and Bryant has obviously not been available much because of suspensions.

Coates, a third-round pick in 2015, had just 21 catches (on 49 targets) last year in 15 games despite the absence of Bryant.

The back-and-forth was short-lived, at least on Twitter, but Mike Tomlin noticed. The Steelers coach, who tweets infrequently, posted this to his players, proving that he’s always watching:

More NFL draft coverage from Yahoo Sports:
• Dan Wetzel: Why more players will follow the lead of Christian McCaffrey and Leonard Fournette
• Grading every pick: Who did the best in Round 1?
• Falcons’ pick wins draft night with emotional, expletive-laden interview
• Watson’s heartwarming moment after being drafted
• Raiders take risk, pick CB at center of rape investigation