Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said in his weekly press conference Tuesday that running back Le’Veon Bell will hit the ground running Sunday night when he returns from his three-game suspension.
“He’s a guy that’s highly conditioned over a 12-month calendar,” Tomlin said via NFL.com. “We’ve seen him every day, he’s been a part of this, he’s been in the building, he’s up to speed on what we’re doing from a schematic standpoint, really in tune here.”
It’s a good thing for the Steelers (2-1) that Bell is in the kind of shape Tomlin says that he’s in, because they don’t have time to ease him back into game action.
It became apparent during the Steelers’ 34-3 loss to the Eagles Sunday that Ben Roethlisberger needs a reliable set of hands that don’t belong to Antonio Brown, who led the Steelers with 12 receptions. No other Steeler caught more than four passes, and it was running back DeAngelo Williams who caught four. His role likely will diminish with Bell returning.
The retirement of Heath Miller and the season-long suspension of Martavis Bryant has left a void behind Brown in the Steelers’ pecking order. Markus Wheaton was rusty in his first game back from a shoulder injury, dropping a touchdown and catching just one pass. Wheaton will shake out the cobwebs, but he’s never really shown that he can be a Robin to Brown’s Batman.
Sammie Coates is averaging 29 yards per reception, but he’s caught just seven passes. Eli Rogers isn’t likely to play Sunday because of turf toe.
That’s where Bell comes in. He was the Steelers’ second-leading pass catcher in 2014 with 83 receptions. He also led the AFC with 1,361 rushing yards.
Since entering the NFL in 2013, #Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell (@L_Bell26) leads the NFL with an average of 119.0 yards from scrimmage per game.
— Dom Rinelli (@drinelli) September 26, 2016
Bell can add a dimension to the Steelers offense that’s desperately needed right now as long as he stays healthy. His season ended in Week 8 last year when he suffered a knee injury, and he’s been injured in each of his three seasons. He missed the Steelers’ wild-card playoff game in 2014 and the first three games of 2013.
That vulnerability to injury has to be in the back of everyone’s mind, but the Steelers can’t tread lightly with him. They need to use him against the Chiefs at Heinz Field to avoid falling to 2-2.
“You’re going to see Le’Veon Bell and probably a lot of him on Sunday,” Tomlin said.
