Mike Tomlin sends strong message to Le’Veon Bell over holdout

Le’Veon Bell is staying away from his second consecutive training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and not having a star player for an entire offseason is enough to annoy even the most understanding coach. Judging by the comments he made Monday, it seems like Mike Tomlin could be losing his patience.

In an interview with Evan Washburn of CBS Sports, Tomlin said he is hopeful Bell will decide to show up earlier this offseason than he did in 2017. He also said he he’d like to see the star running back in even better condition than he was a year ago.

Mike Tomlin on Le'Veon Bell: "I'm hopeful that he'll get to us sooner. I'm hopeful that he'll be in better condition even than he was a year ago." @EvanWashburn checks in on #T2S to bring us the latest from Steelers camp pic.twitter.com/Z2SwVZstqd

— CBS Sports Network (@CBSSportsNet) July 30, 2018

For what it’s worth, Bell racked up nearly 2,000 yards from scrimmage and scored 11 touchdowns last season. His conditioning appeared to be just fine, but Tomlin is making the point that the team has no control over how prepared Bell will be as long as he refuses to show up for work.

There were some questions about Bell’s level of commitment during the postseason last year, and it would be hard to blame Tomlin for being frustrated with the situation. The Steelers share some of the blame for not being able to work out a long-term deal with Bell, but ultimately he is choosing to stay away from the team. Other players in his position — like Kirk Cousins a year ago — did not take the same path.