In the next week, the Steelers will have some kind of closure with their current Le'Veon Bell situation.
And Bell, who has been fairly quiet on social media of late, sent out this cryptic Tweet Monday:
Fairwell Miami ??
— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) November 5, 2018
That could mean he's returning to Pittsburgh to sign his franchise tag tender prior to next Tuesday's NFL deadline to return and play this season -- for anyone. If Bell comes in sometime in the next week and signs his tender, he would be paid $855,000 for every game in which he's active.
But with James Conner rolling as he currently is, the feeling in the locker room is far less interested in how the situation is resolved than it was back when the season was starting and Bell failed to report before the team's regular season opener at Cleveland.
Bell might be leaving Miami, but Conner might not be leaving the lineup.
In fact, the feeling now in the Steelers' locker room is much more laissez faire.
"Honestly, no one cares anymore," David DeCastro said following Sunday's 23-16 win at Baltimore that improved the Steelers' record to 5-2-1.
It's not that they don't care. It's just that they have other concerns. As DeCastro went on to say, he has a lot of fond memories of Bell's play with the team. But Conner is making new memories.
At the midway point of the season, Conner leads the AFC with 706 yards rushing and nine touchdowns. He's also caught 38 passes for 379 yards and another touchdown.
That puts him on pace for a season of 2,170 yards and 20 touchdowns. Bell set the team record in 2014 with 2,215 total yards from scrimmage, while Willie Parker holds the team record for touchdowns in a season with 16 in 2006.
Conner is on pace to come close to or surpass both of those marks.
He's been everything the Steelers could have hoped for and more, posting five 100-yard games in the first half of the season, including the past four games in a row.
The next test for Conner will be if he can handle the quick turnaround from a physical game Sunday in Baltimore to playing a Thursday night game at home against Carolina at Heinz Field.
The Steelers tried to limit his touches in the second half of the win over the Ravens by spelling him at times with rookie Jaylen Samuels. But Conner still got 24 carries and caught seven passes in the game. It was his most touches since getting 36 in the opener at Cleveland.
Conner doesn't seem concerned.
"I'm built for this," he said.
"I agree with him," Tomlin said Monday when asked about Conner's statement.
Tomlin, who has been criticized in some circles for leaning too heavily on his No. 1 running back, has been cognizant of not overworking Conner. And one of the reason's Bell said he didn't report and sign his franchise tender offer was because he was concerned with getting a heavy workload, as he did last season when he recorded a league-high 407 touches.
Conner is averaging 18.9 carries per game, just behind the Rams' Todd Gurley, who averages a league-high 20.2. He's on pace for 378 total touches.
"I don't want to take anything away from James, but the big boys up front are opening holes," Tomlin said. "It's a collective effort. James is going above and beyond. I'm more pleased by what he's doing in the passing game, and as far as blitz pickup. That's a little more unique than the rushing. We knew he could run the ball ever since he showed up at Pitt."
It's why the Steelers selected Conner in the third round of the draft last year, just after New Orleans selected Alvin Kamara and Kansas City took Kareem Hunt.
Kamara and Hunt both earned trips to the Pro Bowl last season as rookies.
Conner is well on his way to securing that honor himself, regardless of what happens with Bell.
