Steeler teammates are losing patience with Bell

Le'Veon Bell's teammates spent the offseason and all of training camp brushing off his absence, confident in their belief that the Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro running back would eventually let the business side of things play out, sign his franchise tender and be at work when things start to get real.

He's one of the best in the league and earned the right to take his time, they said. He'll show up when it starts to matter, they said. We're not worried, they said. Time to worry. And vent. Bell's chair remained tucked neatly into his locker on Wednesday, meaning he will almost certainly not be available when the Steelers open the season in Cleveland this weekend.

And while Bell's agent took to the airwaves to vaguely explain Bell's reasoning for staying away, the men Bell has played alongside for the past five years are starting to run out of patience.

"Honestly it's a little selfish," said center Maurkice Pouncey, a captain who had predicted Bell would arrive by Wednesday. "I'm kind of (ticked) right now. It sucks that he's not here. We'll move on as a team. It doesn't look like he'll be in the game plan at this point."

Veteran offensive guard Ramon Foster poked a little fun at Bell on social media, tweeting out a picture of Bell's head attached to the body of the character from the "Where's Waldo" line of children's books .

"What do you do?" Foster said. "Here's a guy who doesn't give a damn, so I guess we'll treat it as such. I just hate it came to this."

Bell and the Steelers spent each of the past two springs failing to come to terms on a new contract.