Bell says he kept injury hidden from Steelers
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was apparently unaware of Le’Veon Bell’s injury leading into the Patriots’ game. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell watches from the sideline during Sunday’s AFC Championship game against New England.
PITTSBURGH – Much of the focus on what happened to the Steelers at Gillette Stadium Sunday was on how Tom Brady picked apart Pittsburgh’s defense in the Patriots’ 36-17 win in the AFC Championship game.
And while that was a big part of what caused the Steelers’ season to come to an abrupt end, so too was the loss of star running back Le’Veon Bell in the first quarter.
The Steelers went into the game planning on using Bell in much the way they had in their first two playoff games, when he had 59 rushing attempts for 337 yards in wins over Miami and Kansas City. He set team single-game playoff rushing records in both contests.
But Bell said groin soreness that he hid from the team turned into a full-blown injury early against the Patriots.
“Couple of weeks,” said Bell, when asked how long he had been dealing with the issue. “I should have probably told somebody or something like that. But I thought I could fight through it. It was a certain tackle, there was something weird about the tackle. It hurt too bad. I couldn’t really do anything.”
The Steelers had been resting Bell on Wednesdays in recent weeks because of the heavy workload he had over the second half of the season. And he also was given Thursday off last week. He was not on the team’s injury report and NFL rules insist injured players be listed.
But Bell said it was nothing out of the ordinary.
“I was just resting. Obviously, I was sore, but I was just resting Thursday,” Bell said. “I’ve done a lot during the season. I felt normal during the course of the week. I’m not really sure what happened. I just know that the second play of the game, I was hurt. I don’t know how to describe it.”
Bell gained three yards on his first rushing attempt and six on his second. He had 11 yards on his next four rushes, playing just one snap after the end of the first quarter.
“No question,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin when asked if losing Bell altered his offensive game plan. “But like I said, injuries are part of the game. We didn’t do a good enough job or a quick enough job adapting to the circumstance.”
The Steelers prepared against the Patriots hurry-up offense by having their offensive scout team rush to the line of scrimmage after running a play, then running another one immediately after.
According to at least one defensive starter, that wasn’t enough to get the team ready for the onslaught.
“The first drive hit us by surprise,” said outside linebacker Bud Dupree. “They came out firing and it surprised us, the tempo they had. We were checking and they were checking at the same time. Hats off to their team. They had great preparation.”
Brady set a New England postseason passing record with 384 yards, completing 32 of 42 passes with three touchdowns.
But the Steelers kept the Patriots from scoring a touchdown on the opening drive, forcing a field goal from the Pittsburgh 13 after starting the game with five consecutive passes.
“We tried to do a lot of things but their game plan was better than ours and executed better than ours,” said cornerback William Gay. “That’s what it came down to. We went in with great preparation and a great game plan. But they executed better than we did.”
Tight end Ladarius Green, who signed to a 4-year, $20-million contract this season, was limited to six games. He opened the season on the PUP list because of an offseason ankle injury. Then, he missed the final five games because of a concussion suffered in a win at Cincinnati Dec. 18.
The concussion was his third in the past two seasons. He suffered two in September of 2015 while playing for San Diego but only missed two games.
He finished the season with 18 receptions and one touchdown in six games. There has been speculation that Green might decide to retire because of the concussion issues.
“It was one of those years,” said Green. “It seems like every player has one where things just don’t go right. Hopefully next year works out better than this year did.
“I am going to do what I do every offseason, go back and work and try to get ready for next year.”
Linebacker James Harrison said he plans on returning to play next season. Harrison will be 39 in May. … The Steelers will have the 30th pick in this year’s draft, which will be held April 27-29. … Tomlin will hold his final press conference of the season today and likely not speak again to reporters until the NFL owners meetings in March. … Wide receiver Sammie Coates told reporters Monday he might need surgery to repair two broken fingers he suffered on his left hand in a Week 5 win over the Jets. … Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier has been named to the Pro Bowl to replace Baltimore’s C.J. Mosley, who will not play in the game.