It’s been nearly a full week since the Steelers reported to training camp and there’s still no sign of Le’Veon Bell. Of course, no one in Pittsburgh is really surprised by that.
After Bell and the Steelers failed to reach a long-term agreement before the July 16 negotiating deadline given to players who have been hit with the franchise tag, Bell’s agent made it pretty clear that the running back would be skipping training camp.
This marks the second year in a row that Bell has skipped training camp, and after watching what happened last year, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin admitted this week that he’s hoping things go differently with Bell in 2018.
During an interview with CBS Sports NFL reporter Evan Washburn, Tomlin said there are two big issues surrounding Bell’s absence.
“I try not to have any preconceived notions, because there’s some variables at play that are significant, and that is: When he gets here, and the level of conditioning he’s in when he gets here,” Tomlin said. “I’m not going to assume that they’re going to be the same as last year.”
Tomlin then listed the two specific things he’s hoping to to see from Bell this year: He wants his star running back to show up to camp earlier than he did last year and he wants him to show up in better shape.
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