The idea that nobody in the Steelers organization had been in contact with Le'Veon Bell was one that never made a lot of sense.
After all, Bell has a lot of people within the organization who have supported him and whom he considers among his close friends.
Fellow running back James Conner said Thursday on FS1's First Things First he has been in contact with Bell on multiple occasions this year, typically when Conner has a good game.
"Any time I do something good on the field, I always come back to the locker room with a text from Le'Veon," Conner said. "Le'Veon's super cool. He’s a great person. With him holding out, people are going to call him selfish. But that’s not the case at all. It’s just business. That’s my guy."
"Anytime I do something good on the field, I always come back to the locker room with a text from Le'Veon...He’s a great person. With him holding out people are going to call him selfish, but not the case at all. It’s just business and that’s my guy." — @JamesConner_ pic.twitter.com/Jz777CsFNq
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) October 18, 2018
The issue of Conner and Bell's relationship has taken center stage in the past week after a report surfaced recently that Bell, who has refused to report to the Steelers and sign his franchise tag deal, is set to do so at some point during the Steelers' bye week.
Conner has played well in Bell's absence, averaging 118.3 total yards per game, not far below the 128.5 Bell has averaged throughout his career -- the highest total in NFL history.
Bell refused to report this year to play on the franchise tag for the second consecutive season. After this weekend, he will have forfeited $6 million of his $14.54-million salary for 2018.
Many have wondered how the Steelers will handle the workload between the two if and when Bell does return. The Steelers, however, are not concerned about that issue.
"I'll take four if we can have them," offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said when asked if having two good running backs was a problem. "We want all the good players we can get."