Washington reboots with hard work in cotton fields

Associated Press

LATROBE, Pa.

James Washington needed a hard reset. His rookie year with the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t go as planned.

And he knew it.

So fresh off a frustrating indoctrination into the NFL in which the speedy but occasionally erratic wide receiver struggled to develop a rapport with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and felt burdened by the inevitable comparisons to teammate JuJu Smith-Schuster, Washington headed home to Texas in search of perspective.

He found it in the cotton fields working alongside his father, James Washington Sr.

Together father and son would head out by 7 a.m. game-planning on how to attack the 300-plus acres awaiting them. James Sr. would hop on a four-wheeler. James Jr. would strap a vat of weed killer to his back, jam his ear buds in, lace up his work boots and zone out.

“It helps me clear my mind of any problems I’m having in the real world or football related or anything,” Washington said. “It gives me time to think about stuff.”

There was plenty to think over.

The Steelers grabbed Washington in the second round of the 2018 draft following a record-setting career at Oklahoma State, won over by his confidence and his athleticism.

Yet Washington’s development lagged. The intricacies of offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner’s playbook didn’t come easy. Neither did the production.

Washington caught just 16 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown in 2018, well off the pace set by Smith-Schuster, who hauled in 58 receptions and seven scores as a rookie in 2017. Roethlisberger offered very polite but very measured public criticism as the weeks passed and things didn’t quite click.

The constant contrasting — in both production and temperament — between the reserved Washington and the eternally hyper Smith-Schuster didn’t help either. Asked if he could feel himself pressing, Washington nodded.

“Oh for sure,” he said. “It wasn’t just me. It felt like coaches and fans and everybody, ‘Oh, he’s got to do what JuJu did.’ I’m like, ‘I’m not JuJu. You’ve got to realize that.’ We’re two different people. You know.

“Some guys run faster than others and some learn slower than others. It just takes time.”

Space too. Something Stamford, Texas — about three hours west of Dallas — has in abundance.

So rather than pout or hit the gym, Washington headed home and returned to his typical offseason routine. He’s been working out in the fields since elementary school. He didn’t see why this winter — even with a regular job that made him a millionaire before his 23rd birthday — should be any different.

Sure, James Sr. would tell his son to stay home. And James Jr. would politely decline. Sitting around when there’s work to be done wasn’t how he was raised.

“I don’t like my dad working by myself doing all that in the heat,” Washington said. “I want to help him.”

And, just maybe, help himself in the process.

Washington arrived for organized team activities a little thinner, a little faster and far more prepared, aware of not just his responsibilities on a given play but those of every other wide receiver on the field too.

“I never really felt like I had to relearn football, but just learn the way they played here and everything,” Washington said.

He also dropped the crutch of feeling the need to leap for every catch when sometimes just finishing his route and running through the ball was enough, a habit that drew a gentle rebuke from Roethlisberger last November after Washington unwisely laid out for a deep ball against Denver. The ball smacked off Washington’s hands and fell away. If he stays on his feet, maybe he hauls it in and trots into the end zone.