The verdict is now in on Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Bell is having his four-game suspension reduced to three games following his appeal.
Bell, who was suspended in March for reportedly violating the league’s substance abuse policy, was confident a few weeks ago that his suspension would be lifted after his appeal was heard. That ultimately wound up not being the case, however.
Bell, who reportedly missed “multiple” drug test, will now have extra time to rehab has his surgically repaired knee as a result of him being suspended for the first three games of the 2016 regular season. He will now be eligible to play Week 4 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
This news now likely means that running backs Fitzgerald Toussaint and Daryl Richardson will both make the Steelers 53-man roster this year as backups to veteran DeAngelo Williams.
In the meantime, Bell can continue to practice and play until after the team’s last preseason game.
Bell has yet to play in any of the Steelers preseason games despite taking part in training camp practices. It will be interesting to see if head coach Mike Tomlin now decides to hold him out of the team’s final two preseason games now that it’s known for sure that he’ll start the 2016 season on the team’s Reserve/Suspended list.
Originally drafted by the Steelers in the second-round of the 2013 NFL Draft out of Michigan State, Bell is now entering the final year of his rookie contract.
UPDATE: Per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, Bell’s status in the league’s substance-abuse program is unchanged.
Kevin Colbert has released a statement via Steelers.com on the Bell news.
“We are disappointed Le’Veon Bell has been suspended three games to start the 2016 season. We will continue to support Le’Veon, but we acknowledge this mistake has put the team in an unfortunate position. We will continue to work with Le’Veon to help him eliminate distractions in his life so he can reach his full potential as a member of our community as well as a player for the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Per PFT, the Steelers will be fined $115K for the Bell and Bryant suspensions.
According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano, Bell missed his drug tests due to a “travel issue.”
“The suspension is for missed tests, and according to a source, Bell missed the tests due to a travel issue and failed to communicate the travel issue to the tester.”
