PITTSBURGH (AP) — Martavis Bryant long ago gave up on the idea of people pronouncing his first name correctly.
Technically, there is — and never has been — an extra "u," it's pronounced "mar-TAY-vis." That hasn't stopped people from calling the Pittsburgh Steelers rookie wide receiver "Martavius" over and over again.
Even now, with Bryant on a record-setting touchdown binge, the mix-up continues.
"I don't even get mad at it anymore," Bryant said with a laugh. "It would be nice if they say it right but it is what it is."
A few more weeks at the rate Bryant is going and maybe — maybe — he'll give everyone no choice but to get it right.
Languishing on the inactive list for six long weeks before making his NFL debut, the fourth-round pick has been a revelation. Bryant's six touchdowns over the last four games are the most in the league over that span, including an 80-yard heave from Ben Roethlisberger last week that was Pittsburgh's only touchdown in a baffling 20-13 loss to the New York Jets.
Mention to Bryant his six scores are one more than former Clemson teammate and good friend Sammy Watkins of Buffalo — the third overall pick in the draft — and Bryant just shakes his head.
"I didn't know that," he said. "I haven't really been paying attention."
Maybe that's because he's been too busy running into the end zone. Bryant's emergence has given Roethlisberger another big-play target to go with star Antonio Brown. With teams often trying to double-cover Brown, the 6-foot-4 dreadlocked Bryant is averaging a gaudy 22.1 yards per catch.
"He's doing some really good things," Roethlisberger said. "He's been a guy who has helped this offense, and hopefully he'll continue to grow and keep helping us get better."
Bryant's rapid ascension up the depth chart makes it hard to believe he spent the first six games on the inactive list. Bryant didn't pout even while standing on the sideline in a sweatsuit.
"This isn't a Cinderella story," he said in early October.
Maybe not then, but it is quickly becoming one now. Bryant's first NFL reception was a 35-yard touchdown against Houston on Oct. 20, when he outran a Texans defender and brought the ball in at the back of the end zone before slamming into the stands. It's been one of Bryant's few missteps.
His five touchdowns in his first three games matched a league record for the most scoring receptions by a rookie to start his career. Bryant added 10 pounds in the offseason, most of it in his upper body to help him get off the line of scrimmage.
He's not getting pressed much. More often, defensive backs are giving him plenty of cushion, yet he can still get deep whenever he wants. His touchdown against the Jets came when he aborted his fly pattern and ran a post instead when Roethlisberger was flushed out of the pocket.
"I saw Ben scrambling, I just do what we do in practice when we work on scrambling drills," Bryant said. "You should never be surprised. He can throw it anywhere. Ben says just look for the ball when you're running your route."
Bryant hasn't been perfect. Roethlisberger threw his first interception in nearly a month last Sunday when his slant pass to Bryant at the goal line bounced off Bryant's arms and New York's Jaiquawn Jarrett grabbed the deflection.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin called the play a combination of an aggressive move by the Jets but also a "little lack of detail" by Bryant. The Steelers can live with the growing pains considering the spectacular results.
"We're keeping it simple so that he can play fast so he can utilize the skills that he has," Tomlin said. "He's a talented guy. He was a third-year junior when he came out. We've had quite a few of those over the years. We feel pretty comfortable about the ability to grow and develop those guys."
Including Brown, who leads the NFL in receptions and is a lock to make his third Pro Bowl. Where Brown makes plays with his jitterbug moves, Bryant is all long strides and leaping ability. He can box out defenders for the ball or simply run by them. His scores have varied in distance from 2 yards to 80.
"I'm not shocked at all," Bryant said. "I had belief in myself and trust in my ability. So I'm just trying to add on it and try to get better."
STEELERS-TITANS GAME PREVIEW
At their peak, the Pittsburgh Steelers have shown off an offense so explosive it's looked capable of making them one of the NFL's elite teams.
At their worst, they've played beneath the low level of some pretty dreadful competition.
A week after laying their latest egg against one of the NFL's worst teams, the Steelers get a crack at another one Monday night as they visit the Tennessee Titans.
Pittsburgh (6-4) had its best rushing day in eight years with 264 yards in a 37-19 win at Carolina in Week 3, then lost at home to Tampa Bay the following Sunday in a result that remains the Buccaneers' lone victory.
Ben Roethlisberger took his turn as the star in wins over Indianapolis and Baltimore to cap the Steelers' 3-0 midseason homestand, throwing six touchdown passes in back-to-back weeks as Pittsburgh put up 94 points, but once again the shelf life on Pittsburgh's positivity was short.
The Steelers fell behind 17-0 after one quarter last Sunday against the Jets, and Roethlisberger's lone TD pass came with just 1:16 left in a 20-13 loss to a New York team that was 1-8 coming in.
"It's the NFL, if you don't show up ready to play your type of game, you're going to lose," wide receiver Lance Moore said. "Our last game was a perfect example of that. We're hot. We came in high and mighty and a team came in and played better than us."
Struggling against some of the league's lightweights has been a somewhat alarming trend since Mike Tomlin's arrival in 2007, particularly away from home. Pittsburgh has played nine road games in the second half of its schedule against teams with a sub-.300 winning percentage, and the Jets loss was its sixth in those contests.
The Steelers have a minus-15 turnover differential in those games.
"The ability is there, it's just about going out and doing it," defensive end Cam Heyward told the team's official website. "We have to have our focus and mindset on the Titans this week. We can't forget what happened, but we have to move past it. We have to move in the right direction and clean up the stuff that put us in trouble this past week."
Pittsburgh's early hole against the Jets continued another noteworthy road trend. Since the start of last season, the Steelers have been outscored 88-26 in the first quarter away from Heinz Field. They've held an 85-56 edge in the first 15 minutes at home.
Tomlin's team has allowed an NFL-high 36 points on its opponents' first offensive possession, but the Titans (2-7) have only come away with one field goal the first time they've had the ball.
Tennessee looked great in the first quarter last Sunday at Baltimore before reverting back to the form that's seen it score the league's fewest points. The Titans had 142 yards and a 7-0 lead after 15 minutes but were held to 68 yards on 30 plays the rest of the way in a 21-7 loss.
"Early in the first half we did a lot of good things to kind of counteract their guys," rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger said. "We just got to continue to ... play like that for 60 minutes."
Mettenberger hasn't been bad in his first two starts, completing 63.2 percent of his passes with three TDs and two interceptions, but he'll want to focus on getting the ball out sooner against Pittsburgh. Baltimore switched to primarily zone coverage after its banged-up secondary struggled in man, and Mettenberger was sacked five times over the final three quarters while struggling with his reads.
"You try to have an internal clock, that lets you know when it's time, but with the defensive linemen that they have, the clock goes a lot faster," Mettenberger said. "I know I need to play a lot smarter. This is a quarterback driven league and I have to play better."
The Steelers have eight sacks in two games this month but have allowed four of the five QBs they've faced on the road to post a passer rating of at least 109.3, though the outlier also happened to be a rookie from the AFC South. Pittsburgh pressured Blake Bortles into a pair of interceptions in a Week 5 win at Jacksonville, improving to 18-2 against rookie signal-callers since Dick LeBeau returned as defensive coordinator in 2004.
Opening more holes in the running game could be just as significant in boosting that record as confusing Mettenberger. The Steelers have run for just 91 yards on 42 carries in their past two games, and haven't scored on the ground since Week 3.
Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount might find the Titans' defense slightly more accommodating. Tennessee has allowed an AFC-worst 4.53 yards per carry since October, including 363 yards and four touchdowns in its last two losses.
The Steelers were held to 31 yards on 15 carries as Bell missed a 16-9 Week 1 loss to the Titans last season.