Le’Veon Bell Injury Update: Pittsburgh Steelers Running Back Says He’s OK, Team Optimistic After Knee Injury

Le’Veon Bell suffered a frightening knee injury in Sunday’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, but a new update appears to be good news for the Pittsburgh Steelers and their fans.

Bell went down late in the second quarter of the game, twisting his right knee behind him as he was tackled. He had to be carted off the field. While the injury looked bad in real time — and had many fans worried that Bell may have torn his ACL — updates after the game indicate that it may not be that severe.

Pro Football Talk noted the following.

“Per a league source, the Steelers are optimistic (for now) about the condition of running back Le’Veon Bell‘s knee. He exited the stadium during the game for evaluation at a nearby hospital, and the source tells PFT that the initial indication is that the ACL is intact.”

“The team currently hopes it’s only an MCL injury, which likely would knock Bell out for a game or more, but which wouldn’t end his season.”

Bell himself gave more reason for optimism, tweeting a message telling fans that he’s “okayy.”

I appreciate the concern and support from everybody who’s sent me txts, tweets, phone calls, etc…I’ll be okayy, love youu all! #Juice

— Le’Veon Bell (@L_Bell26) November 2, 2015

But even if Le’Veon Bell avoided serious injury, missing any time would be a costly blow to the Pittsburgh Steelers. With Sunday’s loss, they fell even further behind the Cincinnati Bengals, and now appear to have their playoff hopes tied to winning one of the two wild card berths in an AFC that looks tight.

Steelers officially rule out Le’Veon Bell for game with right knee injury. pic.twitter.com/94xVeEKK9r — SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 1, 2015

Not a good look as Le’Veon Bell lands awkwardly on his right knee. Here’s where he suffered the potential injury: pic.twitter.com/uKzNhpvwMw

— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) November 1, 2015

The injury led to some bad feelings among Bell’s teammates. While the injury was not intentional, Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict celebrated with teammates after the tackle, while Bell was injured on the turf.

It left many Steelers players angry.

“He’s that type of guy,” Steelers guard Ramon Foster said of Burfict. “That type of guy will get his sooner or later…. If you’ve played against him, you know what I mean by it. He’ll play it off, act dumb about it, but you don’t run across the field acting hyped, celebrating, jumping up and down when a guy goes down like that.”

Bell’s injury came on what was otherwise a happy day for Steelers fans, who finally got Ben Roethlisberger back from injury. Roethlisberger also suffered a scary looking knee injury, one that initially appeared to be an ACL tear, but instead it was less severe.

Roethlisberger struggled in Sunday’s game, throwing three interceptions. Afterward Roethlisberger said he was disappointed with his play.

“Health-wise, I’m OK,” said Roethlisberger. “I’m obviously disappointed in the way that I played. I let this team down and I let the fans down. This is on me and I’m taking the blame and letting everyone know that I have to play better.”

But with Le’Veon Bell likely to miss several weeks, the Steelers will need to turn to Roethlisberger to lead the team.

“When you’re at the point Ben is in his career, winning and losing is all that matters,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “He sees that very clearly, as do I, but we didn’t do enough today.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers are likely to get an update on Le’Veon Bell’s injury after he has a more thorough examination on Monday.

[Image via Twitter/SB Nation NFL]