Le'Veon Bell Injury: Updates on Steelers Star's Knee and Return

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell exited the team's Week 17 game against the Cincinnati Bengals with a right knee injury. He did not play in the team's Wild Card Round matchup against the Ravens on and will miss the 2015 Pro Bowl as well.

Continue for updates.

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Bell Not Cleared, Will Miss Pro Bowl

Monday, Jan. 19

Pro Football Talk reports that Bell will miss the 2015 NFL Pro Bowl due to his lingering knee injury:

On Jan. 4, after missing the Steelers' Wild Card Round loss to the Ravens, Bell discussed his status and was looking ahead to the annual All-Star event, via Chris Bradford of the Beaver County Times:

Bell was listed as inactive against Baltimore, per Bob Labriola of Steelers.com. The team clearly missed one of its best offensive players in the 30-17 loss. Pittsburgh rushed for just 68 yards with Josh Harris and the recently acquired Ben Tate receiving the majority of touches.

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Bell Misses Thursday Practice

Thursday, Jan. 1

Missi Matthews of Steelers.com reported that Le'Veon Bell remained out of practice:

Teammate Antonio Brown is optimistic about Bell, via Around The NFL on Twitter:

Chris Wesselling of NFL.com shared more on Bell's status:

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Coach Mike Tomlin is calling for an extra practice on Friday, giving Bell one last-ditch chance to try running and cutting. Even if Bell doesn't go on Friday, offensive coordinator Todd Haley said he would be comfortable playing his star tailback without practice if the knee checks out by Saturday's pre-game routine, per Kinkhabwala.

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Bell Comments on Injury

Wednesday, Dec. 31

Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com provided an update on Bell's injury, and Jim Corbett of USA Today and Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette shared a synopsis of what Bell had to say about how he feels:

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Tomlin Says Bell Is Day-to-Day

Tuesday, Dec. 30

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin commented on Bell's status, via Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and ESPN.com's Scott Brown:

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'Almost Impossible' for Bell to Play on Saturday

Adam Lefkoe and Bleacher Report Lead Sports Medicine Writer Will Carroll discuss Bell's injury in the video below:

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Steelers Reportedly Believe Bell Will Be Ready for Postseason

Monday, Dec. 29

CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora reported the initial outlook on Bell's injury following Sunday's victory:

Adam Schefter of ESPN relayed the results of Bell's MRI: 

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Bell Injured on Tackle by Reggie Nelson

Sunday, Dec. 28

The Steelers' official Twitter account reported the ominous details surrounding Bell's exit from the field:

Coach Mike Tomlin discussed the injury after the game, via ESPN's Scott Brown and Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports: 

Brown observed how Bell looked leaving the locker room: 

Big expectations were on the horizon for Bell at the dawn of the 2014 NFL season. A second-round pick in the 2013 NFL draft, Bell has thrived as the feature back to help re-establish Pittsburgh's physical identity after two lackluster 8-8 campaigns.

Bell's blend of patience and speed makes him difficult to tackle once he hits the second level of a defense. His pass-catching out of the backfield also gives franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger a safety valve—another wrinkle the opposition has to account for.

Pittsburgh will hope not to lose Bell for long, since he's so vital to both dimensions of the offense.

In fighting for the AFC North title Sunday, there had to be a balance struck to win the game and preserve Bell's health. This is an unfortunate turn of fortunes for coach Mike Tomlin's team.

The Steelers don't have much depth to compensate for Bell's loss, either. Massive ball-carrier LeGarrette Blount was waived earlier in the year, while rookie Dri Archer is a speedy scatback not built to take on a workhorse role.

As long as Roethlisberger is under center, Pittsburgh's offense should be fine enough to give Pittsburgh at least a chance of advancing in the playoffs.