Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell was unable to play in the team’s Wild Card playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens after hyperextending his right knee in the regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals, but in a Wednesday interview he said the injury is improving and he hopes he’ll be ready for the offseason training activities.
“The knee is close to 100 percent,” Bell told Marshall Faulk on Super Bowl Live on Wednesday. “I’m probably about 85-90 percent, been able to run on it a little bit. So I’m getting back to working out a little.”
Bell, who set a new franchise record in yards from scrimmage in 2014, also had to miss his first Pro Bowl due to the injury.
It hurt, because I just wanted to play,” said Bell, who was drafted in the second-round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Steelers out of Michigan State. “When I was watching the Pro Bowl, everything’s moving kind of slow. It was slo-mo. It was kind of like tag a little bit almost.
“So they weren’t even tackling at first and I’m thinking, man, I could have played. My knee was fine, I could have played. It kind of hurt watching it, but it was an honor to be promoted to the Pro Bowl and it just hurt to have to watch it.”
Bell is currently in Arizona, the site of Super Bowl XLIX, promoting Fed Ex as he is in the running for the FedEx Ground Player of the Year award. Bell was nominated for FedEx Ground Player of the Week five times in 2014, winning three times. You can vote for him here.
