Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell underwent surgery to repair the groin injury he suffered during the AFC playoffs a few weeks ago and the team is in no hurry to rush him back for offseason workouts.
During his Sunday conference call with the media ahead of the annual league meetings in Arizona, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert indicated that there is currently no timetable for Bell’s return from surgery.
“Our goal is to have him 100 percent for the 2017 season,” Colbert said, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Bell, who reportedly needed a core muscle repaired a few weeks after receiving several opinions, is expected to need roughly six weeks of recovery time. While it’s still too early to know for sure, the former second-round draft pick might be sidelined during the Steelers 2017 OTA practices as well as the team’s mandatory minicamp. It goes without staying that he should be ready for training camp, however.
Bell, who was given the franchise tag ahead of the start of the 2017 league year, is now hoping to sign a long-term contract extension ahead of the July 15 deadline. Colbert also indicated Sunday that a new deal for Bell likely won’t be consummated before the draft.
Last season, Bell rushed for 1,268 yards and 7 touchdowns during the regular season in addition to catching 75 passes for another 616 yards and two touchdowns. He posted those stats in 13 games as he was forced to miss the first two games of the 2016 season due to a suspension. The third game he missed was the regular season finale as the Steelers chose to rest him for the playoffs.
