The upcoming game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs will be the first time that Le'Veon Bell will be on the field following his injury and suspension. According to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh fans can expect to see Bell as a starter in the Week 4 game.
The last time that Bell played for the Steelers was about 11 months ago before he tore the ligaments in his right knee. Then, when the 2016 NFL season rolled in, he was slapped with a three-game suspension for missing a drug test.
But now that he's back, it seems the Pittsburgh franchise will not be wasting any time in keeping Bell on the bench. As noted by Tomlin, Bell will spend a lot of playing time in the upcoming game on Sunday.
However, being absent for more than a year has fans of the Steelers worrying about his condition. Given his previous injury and the fact that he was suspended for the first three weeks of the season, a lot of fans are wondering if he is in top playing shape.
According to Tomlin, Bell has always been in condition and has stayed in shape during his long absence. He's also updated on what the Steelers are currently doing with their offense, which means he will probably not waste time adapting to Pittsburgh's plays this weekend.
"His level of conditioning is not a concern to us," Tomlin said. "He's a guy that's highly conditioned over a 12-month calendar. We've seen him every day, he's been a part of this, he's been in the building, he's up to speed on what we're doing from a schematic standpoint, really in tune here."
"We'll see how sharp he is physically once we get him out on the practice field and kind of go from there but rest assured, you're going to see Le'Veon Bell and probably a lot of him on Sunday," the coach added.
Hopefully, the return of Bell will be enough to catapult the Steelers back to its winning track. Although the team started the season with two consecutive wins, they suffered a huge loss against the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday with a score of only 3 to 34.
