Steelers say Conner will rise to challenge
Mike Tomlin doesn’t know when Le’Veon Bell is going to show up for work.
Maybe it’ll be in time for the Steelers All-Pro running back to be ready for Sunday’s season opener in Cleveland.
Or maybe Bell will skip a week to send one last message about his frustration over not being able to sign a long-term deal during the offseason.
Or maybe Bell will wait until early November to sign his one-year franchise tender, a move that would cost him millions in lost salary up front, a windfall Bell hopes to recoup when he hits free agency next spring.
Tomlin insisted Tuesday that he has too much going on getting ready to chase a third straight AFC North title to keep checking Bell’s locker for evidence of his arrival.
“When he gets here, that’s when we’ll start quantifying Le’Veon Bellrelated things,” Tomlin said.
Tomlin declined to get into specifics about how long it might take for Bell to get ready to play after not practicing for eight months. Could be a week, as it was last year. Could be longer.
“Right now, (I’m) singularly focused on the guys focused that have been here,” Tomlin said.
Second-year running back James Conner chief among them. The former Pitt star made significant strides during training camp. Following an uneven rookie season in which he dealt with various health concerns, Conner’s rise over the spring and summer left his teammates confident and his coach impressed.
Asked if he’s more comfortable with the depth behind Bell than he was heading into the 2017 opener, Tomlin said yes. When asked why, Tomlin simply replied “James.”
The Steelers drafted Conner in the third round in 2017, capping a remarkable 18 months in which he recovered from a cancer diagnosis in November 2015 to become the ACC’s all-time leading touchdown scorer at Pitt.
Conner looked the part of a starter during this preseason, running for a team-high 100 yards, including a bruising 26-yard touchdown run against the Packers’ starting defense.
“If we start off with James, I think we’ll be fine either way,” guard Ramon Foster said. “He’s a guy that’s made strides. He’s made us confident in him. So he gets the start, we roll with him. No disrespect to (Bell), we’ve got to move. This is a moving train.”
Broncos coach Vance Joseph announced Monday that rookie running bacl Royce Freeman, a third-round pick out of Oregon, will start Sunday’s opener against the Seahawks.
Freeman will be the first Broncos rookie to start at running back in Week 1 since 1995 when Hall of Famer Terrell Davis ran for 70 yards and a touchdown against the Bills.
The Chiefs signed backup OL Cam Erving to a two-year contract extension. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed . ... The Eagles re-signed WR Markus Wheaton and placed TE Richard Rodgers (knee) on injured reserve.