Pittsburgh Steelers rookie running back Le’Veon Bell had 1,259 combined yards from scrimmage during his rookie season and last week in an interview with CBS Sports on radio row at the Super Bowl, he was asked to grade his 2013 performance.
“My rookie year, I have a B-plus,” said Bell. “I think I had a pretty good rookie season, especially with the foot injury and hurting my knee at the beginning of the year. Just learning and continuing to get better, that’s all I want to do.”
Bell banged up his knee in training camp and a foot sprain suffered early in his first preseason action resulted in him missing the first three games of the season. Once he got adjusted to the speed of the game and the offensive line started to gel during the second half of the season, however, we got a chance to see what Bell really can do as an all-purpose running back.
Heading into his second season, Bell will have a new running backs coach as James Saxon was hired to replace Kirby Wilson, who just so happened to fill Saxon’s shoes with the Minnesota Vikings. Bell was asked during his recent interview to comment on him having his second position coach in as many years.
“It’s got its pros and cons with it,” started Bell. “Kirb [Wilson] was a guy I was comfortable with, obviously. I never had a running back coaching switch. It’s going to be something new. I could have a different mind teaching me different things, so we’re going to see. The guy I got now coached Adrian Peterson, so can’t go wrong with that.”
In addition to Bell having a new position coach, he will also be running behind an offensive line that will now be coached by former Tennessee Titans head coach and Hall-of-Fame guard Mike Munchak, so he certainly will be in store for some changes in his second season, which on paper one would think should be better than his first.
You can watch the entire interview with Bell in the video below.
