Bell eager to get back to work as 3-game suspension ends
PITTSBURGH >> Le’Veon Bell stood at his locker, his face covered in sweat and his eagerness to kickstart his stalled NFL career palpable.
His three-game suspension for a second violation of the league’s substance abuse policy over, the Pittsburgh Steelers running back is ready to get back to work, particularly after spending Sunday afternoon watching his teammates get clobbered across the state in Philadelphia. “It sucked,” Bell said. Pretty much. The team that looked borderline unstoppable at times during wins over Washington and Cincinnati was a mess against the Eagles. DeAngelo Williams, who filled in so brilliantly for Bell during the opening two weeks, slogged for just 21 yards. The offense posted its lowest point total in five years and the defense spent the afternoon futilely trying to make Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz look like a rookie.
Enter Bell, limited to six of Pittsburgh’s last 22 games thanks to knee injuries and run-ins with the league’s drug policy. An All-Pro in 2014 when he emerged as one of the best all-around backs in the league, Bell believes he’s a better player than the one last seen being carted off the field in a loss to the Bengals last November with a torn MCL in his right knee.
“I’m a lot smarter,” Bell said. “So many things I did my (in 2014) were good things. But I look back at my film now and I’m like, ‘What am I doing on this play? What am I doing on that play?”’
Sunday night’s visit from Kansas City (2-1) marks Bell’s first appearance in a game that matters in 11 months. He insists his surgically repaired right knee is fine. So, too, is the desire to prove that he’s all the way back. The faster the better.
“I’ve always felt like I had to prove something to somebody,” Bell said. “That is never going to go away. I’m always going to have this personal chip on my shoulder.”
Even if one of Bell’s biggest enemies the last two years has been himself. He sat the first two games of the 2015 season as part of the fallout for his arrest on DUI and drug possession charges in August, 2014. Another fourgame suspension (eventually reduced to three) came down in August after Bell says he overslept and missed a drug test.
“I’m not a perfect person, I never will be,” he said. “I know there are some things I can get better (at).”
Prescott-Wentz showdown on horizon?
ARLINGTON, TEXAS >> Get ready for talk of a rookie quarterback showdown on Oct. 30 between the sudden stars of the NFC East: Philadelphia’S Carson Wentz and the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott in Dallas.
There’s just a slight problem with the scenario for that prime-time game on Prescott’s new home field: It might be Tony Romo’s first game of the season coming off a back injury.
The Cowboys sure look like they’ll be in good hands until Romo returns — whenever that is — and Chicago might be wondering how long it can survive without Jay Cutler.
Prescott led scoring drives on all four Dallas possessions in the first half before throwing his first career touchdown pass in fellow rookie Ezekiel Elliott’s first 100-yard game, and the Cowboys beat the Bears 3117 on Sunday night to snap an eight-game home losing streak.
“When you see Dak perform at the level that he is performing and you project what his future might be, then you feel good about the future,” owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. “The other thing we feel good about is Romo is coming along, I would say, outstandingly.”
Wentz and Prescott are NFL record-setters as rookies, with the two highest numbers of passing attempts without an interception to start a career. Wentz, the No. 2 overall pick, is at 102 while leading the Eagles to a 3-0 start and Prescott is at 99.
Unbeaten Ravens win the close ones
OWINGS MILLS, MD. >> The Baltimore Ravens won’t apologize for beating three teams that have one win between them, and they make no excuses for an offense that’s produced only four touchdowns in 12 quarters.
What matters to coach John Harbaugh and his players is that the Ravens are 3-0, alone atop the AFC North and putting a good deal of distance between themselves and the squad that went 5-11 last year.
Baltimore is one of only five unbeaten teams in the NFL, a distinction that might be more significant if its victories didn’t come against Buffalo (1-2), Cleveland (0-3) and Jacksonville (0-3). While Harbaugh acknowledged that it’s too soon to get an accurate read on the strength of his team, he made a point of quoting an esteemed former coach in assessing the current state of the Ravens.
“Bill Parcells says you are what your record says you are,” Harbaugh said Monday. “I was reminded about that last year by you guys quite frequently. So I’ll remind you: It’s a pretty good statement.”
This Sunday, the Ravens will attempt to go 4-0 for only the second time in franchise history when Oakland (2-1) comes to town.
“They’re a contender in the AFC,” Harbaugh said.
Maybe the Ravens are, too.