Running backs sample life without Bell

Tight end Xavier Grimble sprawled on the floor, both hands behind his head, in front of his teammate’s locker. Throughout the offseason that locker, draped with No. 26 jerseys, has been free space, a perfect place to rest with no threat of interruption.

“I’m just holding down the fort,” Grimble said.

As has been the case for the team’s other offseason activities, running back Le’Veon Bell never paid a visit to his locker Tuesday as the three-day minicamp opened. His absence takes a key figure out of the locker room that younger players canlearn from.

Running backs coach James Saxon, who spoke to the media for the first time this offseason, said he’s just “focusing on coaching the players that are here.

“They’re all learning. And that’s, you know, they’re working hard.

“[Bell’s] got to handle what he’s got to handle.”

Saxon said Bell’s absence is no help to the position group, which would feed off his presence and learn things just from “having a good player around.”

Rookie running back Jaylen Samuels, a fifth-round draft pick, said he hasn’t had any conversations with Bell but is eager to learn from him.

In Bell’s absence, backup Fitzgerald Toussaint has tried to play the role of a veteran along with Stevan Ridley.

Toussaint, who enters his fifth pro season and fourth with the Steelers, is the second-oldest (28) running back on the Steelers roster behind Ridley (29) and the longesttenured Steelers running back behind Bell.

“When I was coming up in the league, I didn’t really have nobody to tell me what was this and what was that,” Toussaint said. “So, that’s what I’m trying to do for the younger guys.”

Toussaint said that the “most important” thing he could do is to be a guide for theyoung running backs.

“I’m definitely going to compete, we don’t even got to worry about that,” Toussaint said. “But, you know, I also want to make sure ... those [younger] guys are gonna be in the right spot.”

Bell’s absence hasn’t changed much for James Conner, who is focusing on himself and said he “feels like me” following his recovery from a knee injury that cut short his rookie NFL season.

The former Pitt star said the few extra reps he has been able to run with Bell out have been useful in helping him play fast.

Anything that the young Steelers backs want to learn from Bell, they have been forced to do in the film room.

For now, that’s fine with them.

Quick hits

• Samuels said pass-catching is his “best attribute.” In OTAs, he ran routes from out of the backfield, lined up in the slot and as an outside receiver.

“Jaylen’s got some awesome hands, man,” Ridley said. “He’s shown that, he’s put that on display every day.”

• Ridley, who has played for four teams already in his NFL career, said his time with the Steelers has been his favorite. “Everybody’s different, different strokes for different folks, you know, I think you vibe with who you vibe with, but, being an older guy and being in a bunch of different locker rooms, I can definitely say that this team has been one of my favorite places to play. “Ridley said. “It’s just a bunch of guys that like to play football.”