Bell sets timetable for return to Steelers
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hasn’t heard from running back Le’Veon Bell since camp opened. Bell says he’ll be back Sept. 1.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell (26) has a laugh during a practice at the NFL football team’s training camp in Latrobe, Pa., on Saturday, July 30, 2016. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
PITTSBURGH – Running back Le’Veon Bell posted on Twitter Tuesday night that he would report to the Steelers Sept. 1, a little more than a week before the regular-season opener at Cleveland.
If that’s the case, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said Wednesday he is not sure if will be enough time for Bell to handle his typical workload against the Browns Sept. 10.
“I don’t know. (He’s) coming off an injury,” Roethlisberger said. “He’s going to come back here in great shape; he’s always in shape. But there’s great shape and football shape. There’s running around in a T-shirt – or probably for him, no shirt – and putting the pads on and getting hit. He’s going to have to be the judge of how easy he can come back and be ready to go.”
Bell, 25, has been sitting out because he has yet to sign the Steelers’ franchise tender offer made to him earlier this year to keep him from becoming a free agent.
He has not been seen in Pittsburgh since a last-ditch effort to sign him to a contract extension fell through before the NFL deadline of July 17. Bell reportedly turned down a contract that would have averaged $12 million per season.
Instead, he will play this season at the franchise tag value of $12.12 million that is fully guaranteed – once he reports and signs it.
Until then, he is not officially under contract.
“We always want our guys here. But he didn’t have to be here,” Roethlisberger said of the team’s 2016 MVP. “We want him here because he’s an amazing football player and he helps this team. We’ll be excited when he gets here. Hopefully, it won’t take him long to get into football shape.”
While head coach Mike Tomlin has said that he’s been in consistent contact with the All-Pro running back, Roethlisberger said his attempts to reach out to Bell have gone unanswered.
He said it’s not a big deal for him, but wouldn’t comment on how others on the team might view Bell.
“Obviously, we want him here because he’s a brother,” Roethlisberger said. “Everybody understands what’s going on. There’s no hard feelings on my part. I’d love to hear back from him, just a text, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ But it is what it is.”
Roethlisberger also said the Steelers have added some new wrinkles to their offense that could take Bell some time to pick up.
“We’ve got a couple of bigger ones this year than usual,” he said. “But every year you put new things in, change some things. Just coincidentally, this year we put in more than usual.”
Bell’s patient running style has become his trademark, but All-Pro guard David DeCastro said since the line has played so much with Bell, getting up to speed shouldn’t be an issue. But that will only happen once the regular season begins since Bell will have missed the entire preseason.
“Over these last couple of years as an offensive line, we’ve grown,” DeCastro said. “It’s one of those things that we’ll have to get back on when he gets here. You watch the film and there’s a lot of things in football you have to get through with repetition. Practice reps are one thing, but game reps are more important.”
Roethlisberger will finally play in a game Saturday, when the Steelers host the Indianapolis Colts in their third preseason game.
Roethlisberger and receiver Antonio Brown have been healthy scratches by Tomlin in the first two preseason games. He expects to play at least a couple of series against the Colts.
“Just to click, move the ball, pick up first downs,” he said of what he wants to accomplish. “Getting into the end zone is always a big deal. We want to move the ball. That will be a big one.”