Bell a no-show, done in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH — Le’Veon Bell’s patience on the football field sets him apart. In a game built on chaos, the star running back rarely hurries or makes hasty decisions.

His career at a crossroads partly of his own making, Bell will have to rely on that patience now more than ever after the two-time All-Pro declined to sign his one-year, $14.4 million franchise tender with the Steelers by Tuesday’s deadline, making him ineligible to play for the AFC North leaders — or anyone else — this season.

The unprecedented move sets Bell up for the potentially big-time payday he has long been searching for when he becomes a free agent in the spring, provided there’s a team willing to splurge.

TV cameras were set up outside the team’s practice facility to catch Bell if he decided to show up for work for the first time in nearly 10 months, the 26-yearold never pulled up to the gates, ending — for now — one of the more unusual labor standoffs between a team and a player in the era of free agency.

Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin seemed resigned to Bell’s decision shortly before the 4 p.m. deadline, saying simply “so be it” when asked about the possibility of Bell not returning to the team that selected him in the second round of the 2013 draft and helped mold him into one of the league’s most dynamic threats.

“Even when we don’t understand it, we’re sensitive to it, so we’re not shocked when things happen from a business standpoint, no,” Tomlin said.

The Steelers (6-2-1), who have won five straight to sprint to the top of the di- vision heading into a visit to Jacksonville on Sunday, will turn to second-year back James Conner and reserves Stevan Ridley and rookie Jaylen Samuels to shoulder the load with Bell out of the picture.

Conner, second in the NFL in yards from scrimmage (1,158) and third in rushing yards (771), remained in the concussion protocol on Tuesday after leaving Thursday’s rout of Carolina, but could practice as early as Wednesday.

All season, Tomlin said he was focused on the players in the locker room. He hardly seemed bothered by the idea of Pittsburgh’s quest for a postseason berth continuing without Bell.

“That train has left the station,” Tomlin said. “We’re comfortable with how we function, the people at our disposal, the division of labor and our ability to ready ourselves for the challenges.”