Pittsburgh Steelers are doubtful running back Le’Veon Bell will have returned to play by Tuesday’s deadline, which will make him ineligible to play for the rest of the season.
Despite the uncertainty regarding Bell’s future with the Steelers, there has been little progress from either the team or the player to ensure the holdout ends. Last Thursday, Steelers owner Art Rooney said on a radio show he expected the 26-year-old to get back to play by the deadline but Bell is yet to make his intentions known.
“I have to start by saying I don’t know what his plans are,” Art said. “But I would say at this point we expect him to come back next week. We know he’s back in Pittsburgh and so we’re hoping to have some communications with him over the weekend and we’re kind of expecting he will be back next week.”
Although the Steelers run havoc on the Carolina Panthers in Thursday’s 52-21 win, their main running back James Conner was injured. The news quickly prompted reports that Steelers could be anticipating for Bell’s return. That is yet to happen.
In his part, Bell tweeted he was headed back to Pittsburgh after his self-imposed exile to Miami. However, the tweet was accompanied by some remarks that don’t add much hope to Steelers fans.
“Don’t judge me off my decision because maybe this isn’t what you’d do…I’m not going to apologize for what I believe is right for myself, family and the rest of my peers, period,” he tweeted.
