Le’Veon Bell Out 6 Weeks
The Pittsburgh Steelers – a team known for their hard-nosed, relentless running game – saw their talented and diverse backfield take a huge hit this week.
On Wednesday, a league source told ESPN.com that Steelers rookie half back Le’Veon Bell is expected to miss six weeks of field time after undergoing an MRI on Tuesday that revealed a Lisfranc injury in his right foot. The injury occurred last Saturday’s game against the Washington Redskins, which Bell had to leave early.
Even after dealing with a knee injury earlier this preseason – which caused him to miss the team’s first game – Bell still impressed the coaching staff enough to earn him a co-starting spot on the depth chart with returning veteran Isaac Redman. Bell, a 244-pound bruiser, would have complimented the smaller and more agile Redman quite well, creating a solid one-two running back punch.
Of course, Bell will be back this season, but his six-week absence will definitely have a major impact on the Steelers offense. The second-round pick out of Michigan State has reminded many Steelers fans of Jerome “The Bus” Bettis with his aggressive downhill running style, and while it can be beneficially to tackle recovery with the same type of aggression, sometimes it’s also wise to take things slow when you are a young up-and-coming talent like Bell.
Veteran safety Ryan Clark gave Bell that very same advice when he went down with the knee injury during training camp a few weeks ago.
“I told him, ‘I understand that you want to prove to us that you’re tough, that you want to prove to us that you’re durable, that you’re willing to go out and do whatever it takes to help us, but also understand that we’re not going to win the Super Bowl this week. We weren’t going to win it last week,'” said Clark. “He’s proven to me that he wants to be out there, that he wants to try to fight through injury. Now he needs to get himself healthy.”
The real bad news for Pittsburgh fans is that while Bell works his way towards recovery, the team doesn’t have many other able bodies to fill the void at the moment. Redman and LaRod Stephens-Howling both didn’t play last week due to injuries and Baron Batch also left the game early with a stinger. Unfortunately, that leaves just two 100-percent healthy running backs on the Steelers depth chart in Jonathan Dwyer and Alvester Alexander.
With the defending champion Baltimore Ravens and the hungry, young Cincinnati Bengals looking poised to make playoff runs out of the AFC North, it certainly won’t be easy for the Steelers to return to their former glory this season. And with the injuries piling up, things will only get more difficult.
