Steelers star RB Le’Veon Bell was taken out with a knee injury by the Bengals last season, and he’s speaking up about that not being the only dirty hit him, and his Steelers teammates experienced vs Cincy:
Bell spoke with tribelive.com’s Chris Adamski:
Bell, the Steelers’ All-Pro running back, recalled the season-ending hit from the Cincinnati Bengals’ Vontaze Burfict that tore the MCL in his right knee at Heinz Field on Nov. 1. And he implied he believes that it wasn’t completely an accident.
“I don’t think it was just (Burfict); it was like the whole team was really out there trying to like twist my ankles and do little dirty stuff in between the piles,” Bell said.
Bell, who took part in all individual drills but none of the team 11-on-11 sessions during the Steelers’ first 2016 organized team activities session Tuesday, said he senses that teams target him and fellow Steelers stars such as quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and receiver Antonio Brown.
“I feel like there’s a lot of teams that do that, try to take me out of the game,” Bell said.
Asked later if there were other teams than the Bengals that engaged in such acts, Bell said, “Umm, a couple, but obviously a lot of teams in our division really play that same way, so obviously I know that — I just was kind of ignorant to that at first because I didn’t think people played like that.”
Bell returning to individual drills is a welcomed sign after such a devastating injury, and the Bengals shouldn’t be surprised if refs tend to be a little quicker with the flags going forward.