Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell dealt with a groin injury down the stretch last season, and it was apparently serious enough that it needed to be surgically repaired.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported on Monday that Bell underwent surgery for a core muscle injury and should need about six weeks to recover.
#Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell finally had surgery today to fix a core muscle injury, source said. The normal timeline is 6 weeks or so.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 13, 2017
Bell was never listed on the injury report, including in the week leading up to Pittsburgh’s AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots. He left that game early and didn’t return, and Mike Tomlin later said the injury was not significant prior to that point.
Of course, the fact that Bell needed surgery and some of the details we previously learned about the injury will lead to a lot of criticism from people who believe the Steelers violated league rules by not disclosing an injury. Bell missed some practices in the weeks before the AFC Championship Game, but the absences were all listed as non-injury related.
