Le’Veon Bell Reportedly Won’t Rejoin The Steelers During The Team’s Bye Week

The Pittsburgh Steelers enter their 2018 bye week with a 3-2-1 record and, all things considered, that performance should be seen as a success. While controversy certainly isn’t foreign to this Steelers team, the ongoing subplot of Le’Veon Bell’s holdout is out of the ordinary even by Pittsburgh’s standards and things took another turn on Monday.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported earlier in the month that Bell was expected to rejoin the Steelers during the team’s bye week but, as of Monday, the star running back is still a no-show. Beyond that, ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes that Pittsburgh no longer expects his arrival this week.

At this glance, the original ESPN report indicated that “Bell has deployed a strategy that has kept Steelers officials and players in the dark, with no contact with any of them” and that “no one within the Steelers organization knows exactly when Bell will report.” While the previous thinking centered on Bell arriving sometime this week (in part to collect additional money during a week that does not feature an actual game setting), that no longer appears to be the case, even as the Steelers are set to be off for much of the interim week.

As Schefter notes, this changes the dynamic and focuses things more heavily on Monday, Oct. 22 as the potential arrival date for Bell, though skepticism may creep into the proceedings with each passing day. Bell’s replacement, former Pittsburgh standout James Conner, has been outstanding in compiling more than 700 total yards and seven touchdowns, and that could paint a less desperate picture on the Steelers end at this juncture.

The CBA-driven deadline of Week 11 remains in place for Bell to report, at least through the lens of earning a year of service toward free agency. Though the fireworks seem to be on hold for at least a week, the Steelers will be in the news despite the absence of the team from a fully sanctioned NFL football game in Week 7.