Le'Veon Bell Injury Update: Steelers Sign Isaiah Pead, Place Bell on IR

Le'Veon Bell's season is over. The Pittsburgh Steelers running back was officially placed on injured reserve Monday, a day after he went down in their 16-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Pittsburgh also announced it had agreed to terms with running back Isaiah Pead.

Bell, 23, left in the second quarter after his knee buckled under Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict on a reception near the sideline. As he was being dragged down, his knee caught under Burfict and took the entirety of his weight as he was hitting the ground. 

ESPN.com's Adam Schefter reported Bell's MCL was "badly" torn after the game.

“Man, it hurts,” receiver Martavis Bryant told USA Today's Lorenzo Reyes. “He’s our brother. And he’s the best back in the NFL. When we lose a guy like that, obviously it will hurt us. But at the same time, we’ve got another brother who is also a great running back with (backup) DeAngelo Williams. We’re going to have his back. I just pray that Le’Veon is all right.”

Bell finishes his 2015 campaign with 556 yards and three touchdowns. Despite missing the first two games to a suspension, he was on pace for his second straight 1,000-yard season and was doing little to dispel the notion that he's the league's best all-around back. The third-year star posted 100-plus yards in three of his first five games after returning to the lineup and caught at least four passes in four contests.

His injury is just the latest blow in a Steelers season that seemed doomed from the start. Bell and Bryant opened the season with suspensions, and just as the former was getting back in the lineup, Ben Roethlisberger went down with a torn MCL of his own. Roethlisberger returned to action this week, but the Steelers offense lasted less than two quarters at full strength.

Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review timed it down to the second:

The Steelers will now turn to veteran DeAngelo Williams, who combined for 204 rushing yards in a pair of starts earlier this season. Williams isn't going to replicate Bell's all-around effectiveness. He turns 33 in April, hasn't topped 1,000 yards since 2009 and has topped 30 receptions only once in a decade-long career. Even as he's looked solid in limited work, there is no realistic scenario in which he somehow breaks out and turns in Pro Bowl-level production at his age.

Pead, 25, doesn't exactly come in with a promising NFL resume. He carried the ball 19 times for 78 yards during parts of four seasons with the St. Louis Rams. The Cincinnati product was a second-round pick in 2012, so there is talent there, but it's difficult to expect much given his limited production. He had two carries for three yards this season with the Rams before being let go. 

Pittsburgh's best hope is Williams keeps the running game at league-average levels while a healthy Roethlisberger guns the ball all over the field to Bryant and Antonio Brown. With the Steelers sitting four games behind the Bengals in the loss column, that offensive ascent will have to begin now.

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