Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell has had a rough start to his professional career thanks to a number of injuries. First it was a sore knee that kept Bell from the team’s first preseason game of the year, but he was able to get past that and earn the start for their second outing on Monday Night Football against the Washington Redskins.
Unfortunately for Bell, his NFL debut did not go as planned.
Bell received the ball on four straight hand-offs to begin the game, but he had to leave after the fourth rep because of a foot injury. Bell was diagnosed with a mid-foot sprain and had to undergo an MRI on Tuesday.
The good news is that Bell’s injury is not as significant as the injury that will keep tight end Matt Spaeth out up to ten weeks.
From Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
#Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell's injury to right foot not as significant as teammate Matt Spaeth's Lisfranc.
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) August 20, 2013
The bad news is that the injury hurts any chance Bell had left to win the starting job.
Without the second-round pick in the line up, the Steelers will go with the less than impressive running back duo of Isaac Redman and Johnathan Dwyer to start the regular season.