Martavis Bryant was back practicing with the first team offense on Monday, according to Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Rutter added that Bryant said that he expects to play in Sunday's game against the Colts.

After catching 18 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown during Pittsburgh' first seven games, the Steelers benched him for their Week 8 victory over the Lions after Bryant publicly requested a trade earlier in the week if his current role in the offense stayed the same. Bryant was also demoted to the scout team during that week's practices and was on the sidelines during Pittsburgh's 20-15 victory.

Despite his lack of statistics during the first half of the season, Ben Roethlisberger remains confident that Bryant will make a significant impact during the second half of the 2017 season.

"I’m excited. I think he’s going to have a great second half," Roethlisberger told 93.7 The Fan last week. "I need to have a great second half. If we both do that, we’re going to have a great offense."

Roethlisberger, who added that Bryant was "very encouraging" to himself and his teammates during last Sunday's game, was asked if Bryant will be motivated after seeing JuJu Smith-Schuster catch seven passes for 193 yards against the Lions that included a 97-yard touchdown reception that tied the franchise record for the longest play in team history. Smith-Schuster was named as the AFC's Offensive Player of the Week for his performance.

"Potentially," said Roethlisberger, who threw for 317 yards on Sunday night. "Does he wanna sit here and say, ‘OK, he had a big game, I gotta step up.’ It’s all about how he wants tot take it."

While Smith-Schuster has already solidified himself as a serious playmaker, and with Antonio Brown in the midst of another memorable season, Big Ben is confident that Bryant will help make Pittsburgh's offense a dangerous group moving forward while improving on some of the miscues (most notably the team's struggles in the red zone) that held the group back during the first half of the season.

"I’m really excited to come off the bye week and see what Martavis is going to be bringing to us."