Bell’s tweet hints he’s ready to join Steelers
PITTSBURGH 鈥� Le鈥橵eon Bell has decided it鈥檚 time to get off his butt in Miami, and most likely head to Pittsburgh this week to sign his tender.
Bell tweeted half of that equation at 3 p.m. Monday when he typed 鈥渇airwell (sic) Miami.鈥� It only makes sense that he鈥檚 heading to Pittsburgh since Bell must sign his tender by Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. in order to receive credit for a season of service by getting paid for six weeks of work.
However, it鈥檚 unlikely Bell would receive much time at running back, if we are to believe Mike Tomlin from a comment he made Monday at his weekly press conference.
Tomlin didn鈥檛 say he would 鈥渞un the wheels off鈥� James Conner, as he once famously said of Willie Parker, but Tomlin did lend support to James Conner鈥檚 post-game comment that 鈥淚鈥檓 built for it,鈥� when asked about continuing this season at his current work pace.
鈥淚 agree with him,鈥� Tomlin said Monday in a stamp of approval.
In half a season, the 6-1 1/4, 230-pound Conner has carried 151 times for 706 yards and caught 38 passes for 379 yards. That puts Conner on pace for 378 touches for the season.
In college, Conner鈥檚 high was 303 touches in a 13-game 2014 season, but rarely do NFL running backs touch the ball 378 times during the regular season on the way to winning a Super Bowl. The last was 5-11 1/2, 213-pound Terrell Davis, who touched the ball 417 times before delivering Denver the 1998 championship. Davis followed that 2,008-yard season with seasons of 211, 282 and 701 rushing yards before retiring at the age of 30.
Perhaps Bell will be needed down the stretch, so that Tomlin doesn鈥檛 鈥渞un the wheels off鈥� Conner and shorten his career.
NO. 3 RECEIVER?
Ben Roethlisberger dismissed the idea of Bell playing on the field as a receiver at the same time with Conner, arguing that running backs can be covered by linebackers and Bell鈥檚 talents as a receiver are best suited for coming out of the backfield as a checkdown option.
But Roethlisberger didn鈥檛 look all that pleased Sunday with rookie receiver James Washington playing in Baltimore a week after he had been deactivated in favor of Justin Hunter.
On the second series Sunday, Roethlisberger threw a quick out to Washington, who didn鈥檛 turn around in time. The ball hit Washington in the knee and fell incomplete. As Washington returned to the huddle, Roethlisberger pointed in the rookie鈥檚 chest and appeared to admonish him.
Four plays later, Washington turned quickly enough to catch an out for an 8-yard gain, but in the third quarter Roethlisberger was again displeased after a third-and-6 out to Washington went incomplete.鈥�
鈥淚 think Ben was mad then because he wanted pass interference on that play,鈥� said Mason Rudolph, who was Washington鈥檚 quarterback for four years at Oklahoma State.
Rudolph feels it鈥檚 only a matter of time before the rookie receiver begins flashing his skills in NFL stadiums.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a hard worker, smart and a talented athlete. Don鈥檛 worry about him,鈥� Rudolph said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to speak for Ben, but my guess is that they鈥檙e still trying to get to know each other as quarterback-receiver. I mean, as the quarterback, I鈥檓 sure Ben鈥檚 attention has been on perfecting routes with Antonio (Brown) and JuJu (Smith-Schuster). Then you have the tight ends to work with, and also James coming out of the backfield. It鈥檚 just a matter of math with the amount of practice reps that are available each week.
鈥淏ut, no, I wouldn鈥檛 worry about James. I have a lot of faith his game will emerge because he鈥檒l keep working hard.鈥�
DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD JOB FAIR
Coty Sensabaugh played 60 of 61 possible snaps at cornerback Sunday, the second consecutive game in which Artie Burns played only on special teams.
The two had rotated at the position from Game 3 at Tampa Bay through Game 6 at Cincinnati, but Burns was demoted following the game in Cincinnati, where he allowed an easy touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd and was called for pass interference during the Bengals鈥� late go-ahead drive.
Tomlin was asked Monday if Sensabaugh has established himself as the starter.
鈥淵ou tell me based on usage,鈥� said Tomlin.
Was Burns healthy in Baltimore?
鈥淗e was,鈥� Tomlin said.
But Tomlin didn鈥檛 point to usage when asked whether Morgan Burnett can regain the starting strong safety job back from rookie Terrell Edmunds.
鈥淓dmunds has done a nice job,鈥� Tomlin said of his first-round pick, 鈥渂ut the totality of his play largely has been because of the lack of availability for Morgan, and as Morgan gains his footing from a health standpoint I am interested in playing both guys.
鈥淎 lot of exposure to young guys isn鈥檛 always good for their growth and development because with exposure comes negativity. Edmunds has done a nice job, but I am not going to forget why he鈥檚 in the lineup down in and down out, and that is because Morgan has been hurt. As Morgan gets healthy I am open to infusing him back into the lineup and watching those guys compete and letting both guys play, hopefully getting productive play out of the position. That is my mentality, but that is no secret.鈥�