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Throughout an NFL training camp, players have to answer a lot of questions from media. Every day before practice there is a throng of media all waiting to speak to any player available to get a quote for a story.
You can’t blame them, they are just doing their jobs, but you can imagine how every single interview with a member of the Steelers training camp all contained a question which certainly was phrased something like this:
“So, do you know when Le’Veon Bell will be reporting to the team to sign his franchise tag tender?”
You can imagine how tiring that would become throughout the month the team is at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. This is why it shouldn’t be a shock to anyone how frustrated the team is with Bell’s absence, but for nothing more than them just being sick and tired of talking about it.
Holy cow. Le'Veon Bell's teammates want him here. They're sick of answering questions about his absence. No one is disrespecting anyone.
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) August 21, 2017
Again, this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but as Kinkhabwala, of the NFL Network, continued to talk with players, it became obvious just what Bell could be thinking while he is away from the team.
Simple: How are the people behind him doing on the field?
#Steelers OL Maurkice Pouncey, Ramon Foster both said Le'Veon Bell has to pay attention to how well James Conner ran Sunday.
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) August 21, 2017
Maurkice Pouncey said both times he was injured and out, he was concerned by who replaced him: "It's the Not For Long league for a reason."
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) August 21, 2017
Ramon Foster: "Pittsburgh always does a great job of getting your back-up ready. We all know who's replacing us at some point." #Steelers
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) August 21, 2017
It was reported earlier this week how the offensive line and Bell had been communicating via group chat, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if these weren’t the same words being told to Bell throughout those means of communication.
Either way, reports have swirled around when Bell will return, and the foregone conclusion is he will return at some point, but maybe it will be sooner than later. Only time will tell, but his teammates sure would appreciate not answering the “Where is Bell?” question whenever he decides to show.