Washington Commanders WR Martavis Bryant 'Truly Blessed' For Another NFL Opportunity

Speaking to media after his first practice with the Washington Commanders, the new receiver expressed his appreciation.

Nov 11, 2018; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Martavis Bryant (12) carries the ball against the Los Angeles Chargers in the first quarter at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Commanders made a roster move that's drawn a good bit of attention locally by signing wide receiver Martavis Bryant.

Bryant, originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft was brought in to add size - he's 6'4 - and a red zone presence according to Commanders head coach Dan Quinn.

Star receiver Terry McLaurin also talked about the receiver's combined speed and size and how it could prove beneficial to the team. Bryant now joins young receiver Brycen Tremayne as the tallest receivers on the Washington roster. And he feels blessed to do so.

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Nov 11, 2018; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Martavis Bryant (12) carries the ball against the Los Angeles Chargers in the first quarter at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

In a post-practice interview published by NBC Sports' JP Finlay on Tuesday, Bryant said, "I'm truly blessed, thankful for the organization, thankful to be here and I'm super excited."

"(I've been) talking to the coaches, talking to my teammates, getting familiar with everything," Bryant also said. "It's my first day so I got a lot of work to do. So just soaking it all in and taking it day by day."

His second day of practice on the Commanders roster will not be in Ashburn, Virginia but in Miami, Florida as the team heads south for the second of two joint practice sessions this preseason.

Going from the couch such a competitive environment in 72 hours isn't going to be easy, but Bryant has the experience needed to be able to assimilate quicker than some.

While Bryant hasn't played in a regular season game since 2018, he's been around the NFL game, most recently as a member of the Dallas Cowboys practice squad where head coach Dan Quinn got to know the man and the player.

"Competing against him, he was on the practice squad, and so seeing the skills, seeing how we'd compete against him, oftentimes in practice we put him into a certain spot to simulate the size of a receiver, the speed of a receiver," Quinn said about his experience with Bryant when both where with the Cowboys. " Getting here now and starting with (wide receivers coach) Bobby (Engram) and getting the process started, we'll find out the things that he can do well and then how we feature them into it. But he's got real size, like the catch radius, you know, throw it over here, he’s got length to throw it away from somebody on an option route. So those are the things, with somebody with that kind of size, whether it's the red zone for a guy who can get up to go or option routes where you can throw away from a defender knowing, ‘Hey, this is incomplete or my guy's getting it’.”

Quinn has been preaching competition all training camp and preseason long, and that isn't going to change. So while there aren't many who immediately lock Bryant into a roster spot in Washington, the opportunity for him to snag one will be there.

For now, however, he's more focused on getting in sync with his new team, caught up with his coaches, and appreciating the opportunity.

"Everybody (is) out here working hard. ...So it is an honor to be back out here," said Bryant. Just taking it day by day, getting my feet back under me."

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