As if on cue with the regular season drawing near, we’re starting to hear about Le’Veon Bell’s “love of football.”
Granted, he doesn’t love it enough to show up to play in the preseason, but he loves it enough to cash those checks toward his $12.1 million franchise tender (around $712,000 a week).
According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com, the Steelers running back is not expected to show up in time to play in this week’s third preseason game, but is expected shortly after that. At least one teammate said he should be back before Labor Day, and Bell has been texting teammates lately to stay in the loop.
Bell has skipped all of training camp (after skipping all the OTAs and minicamps), but he can’t be fined since he hasn’t signed his contract yet. He’s been working out on his own in South Florida instead.
Perhaps enhancing his love is seeing rookie James Conner play well. The third-rounder had 20 carries for 98 yards against the Falcons, if not a Bell-like performance then one which would certainly suffice.