When Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell went down with a knee injury in the Steelers regular season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals, likely the Steelers season went down with him.
But while Bell and many others felt that he would be ready to go if the Steelers got past the Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs, you have to wonder if that would have been the case.
Bell had said back then that if cleared he would have played against the Denver Broncos and would also play in the Pro Bowl.
The second-year pro still hasn’t been medically cleared and will miss Sunday’s Pro Bowl as a result.
Bell will be replaced by Denver Broncos running back C.J. Anderson.
Missing the Pro Bowl is likely a good thing for Bell since he is still dealing with the knee issue, but I’m sure he would have liked to play in the game, given it is his first career trip.
That’s especially true coming off a season in which Bell set a Steelers’ franchise record with 2,215 yards from scrimmage (second in NFL). He also set a Steelers’ record for running backs with 83 receptions and 854 receiving yards. In addition Bell set a Steelers’ record with the most first downs (114) and rushed for the fifth-most yards (1,361) in a single season in team history.
Looking back this will likely be a good thing as Bell won’t have to risk further injury and can be 100 percent by the time training camp rolls around in July.
In addition to Bell, Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has already pulled out of the Pro Bowl as well.
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