Feb 24, 2016 4 min read

INDIANAPOLIS – While the Steelers feel good about the progress being made by Maurkice Pouncey and Le’Veon Bell as they work their way back from season-ending injuries, there’s no timetable for a return for either player.

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine that Pouncey is further along than Bell at this point, but that the team is being guarded in its expectations.

Pouncey suffered a broken leg against Green Bay last preseason, and Bell tore his MCL in a November loss to Cincinnati.

“He’s progressing very well,” Colbert said of Pouncey. “He’s spending most of his time in Pittsburgh, because he’s able to do more things beyond just the rehab now. He’s been here the majority of this time and he’ll probably go back and forth between here and Florida to continue it. Right now, everything is all systems go.”

Bell, on the other hand, remains at home in Columbus, Ohio, as he continues to work through the early process of rehab.

“He’ll be ready when he’s ready,” Colbert said. “There’s no timetable coming from us that requires him to be ready for something. You can’t even say he’ll be ready for the regular season, because you won’t know that until he goes through the whole process. His health and his ability to return at 100 percent is the most important thing.”

The Steelers are counting on having both to start next season. And they’ll need Bell to help offset the retirement last week of former Pro Bowl tight end Heath Miller.

Bell was the Steelers’ second-leading receiver in 2014 with 83 receptions for 854 yards, both of which are team records for a running back. Last season, he caught 26 passes in just six games.

The Steelers do not have a player on the roster capable of fully replacing Miller as a receiver – he ranked second on the team in 2015 with 60 receptions – and Colbert isn’t going to panic and try to sign a replacement in free agency or make tight end a priority in the draft.

“Without a Heath Miller, you still have Antonio Brown, you still have Le’Veon Bell, Markus Wheaton and Martavis Bryant,” Colbert said. “So that tight end, I don’t know how big of a part they will be. It depends on their abilities and their ability to contribute within our group. They might contribute more on another team than they would with us, because we have some other weapons available.”

Colbert expects to add at least two tight ends to a position in which the Steelers currently have veteran Matt Spaeth, second-year player Jesse James and untested Xavier Grimble, who spent last season on the practice squad.

“We have three right now and traditionally we’ve gone in with five,” Colbert said. “So there will be two more bodies, whether it’s a vet, a drafted guy, a college free agent, I don’t know at this point. But, there will probably be five or six when we go to training camp.”

The Steelers knew Miller might retire after 11 seasons. It’s one reason they selected James in the fifth round of last year’s draft. But they didn’t know he was retiring for sure until he called tight ends coach James Daniel last Friday to inform him of his decision.

“He had discussions – I didn’t talk to him during the exit interview – (head coach Mike Tomlin) did and Coach Daniel did some before he left,” Colbert said. “We knew that it was a possibility.”

Colbert laughed off suggestions the Steelers might cut inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons, who will count $15 million against their salary cap in 2016. He said Timmons is a productive player and is under contract. … Colbert also said that when Timmons is on the field with fellow inside linebacker Ryan Shazier, they make a “pretty dynamic group.” … Colbert said when assessing cornerbacks, the team asks the question, “Could he cover Antonio Brown?” When asked if he’d like to use Brown to work out against young corners while assessing their ability, he replied, “I wish.”