Another week has come and gone and there still is no sign of Le’Veon Bell.
The Pittsburgh Steelers running back has held out all of training camp and the NFL regular season through Week 7 over a contract dispute. And while the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement, many expected the 26-year-old to report to the Steelers after their Week 7 bye.
But that didn’t happen.
A source told ESPN that Bell was expected to rejoin his team either in Week 7 or at the start of Week 8, but the running back was nowhere to be found come Monday’s practice.
Even though some of his teammates said they’d welcome Bell with open arms whenever he returned, others are beginning to grow tired of wondering when he’ll be back on the gridiron.
“It’s like the boy who cried wolf, you know?” Steelers guard David DeCastro said, via PennLive’s Jacob Klinger.. “It’s like at this point you stop listening to it.”
Cameron Heyward added to DeCastro’s comments, noting he doesn’t make Bell’s decisions for him.
“You know, everybody’s just exhausted from it. We got a bunch of good guys here ready to work,” Heyward said. “Hopefully when Le’Veon wants to show up he can show up.
“It has nothing to do with Xs and Os on the field,” he added. “I don’t make decisions. I don’t make his decisions and he doesn’t make the team’s decisions, so we move on.”
Bell needs to report by the Tuesday following Week 10 if he wants to log the necessary service to become a free agent come the offseason.
