Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell suffered a right knee injury in the second half of the Sunday night win over the Cincinnati Bengals and after the game head coach Mike Tomlin discussed the severity of it.
“On the injury front, got a hyper-extension on Le’Veon Bell’s knee,” said Tomlin. “Structurally it appears to be fine, so we’ll see if he’ll be available to us here in our next game. I don’t know that as we sit here today. Obviously we’ll gather more significant information as we proceed through the week. No journey is without its adversity. We’re thankful that it’s not anything major.”
After the game, Bell was spotted leaving the Steelers locker room with his right knee packed in ice and walking slowly but without the use of crutches or a brace.
Bell was hit by safety Reggie Nelson on the play that he was injured and after the game Tomlin said the hit was legal.
“I did not,” said Tomlin when asked if he had any issues with Nelson’s low tackle on Bell. “It’s not an illegal hit. I did not.”
After the game ended, Tomlin and Nelson had several words with each other as the Steelers head coach was attempting to find and shake hands with Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. Tomlin was asked about that confrontation after the game.
“Yeah, you got to ask him about that,” said Tomlin. “He was talking about some “he said, she said” type of a deal. I don’t know what he was talking about.”
When asked if the conversation between him and Nelson was about the hit on Bell, Tomlin said it wasn’t.
“I guess a teammate told him that I said something regarding him that’s untrue. Ask him. I’ve got a lot of respect for Reggie Nelson, he’s a good player.”