when Le’Veon Bell is going to show up for work.Maybe it’ll be in time for the Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro running back to be ready for Sunday’s season opener at Cleveland.Or maybe Bell will skip a week to send one last message about his frustration over not being able to sign a long-term deal during the offseason.Or maybe Bell will wait until early November to sign his one-year franchise tender Alejandro Villanueva Jersey , a move that would cost him millions in lost salary up front, a windfall Bell hopes to recoup when he hits free agency next spring.Tomlin insists he has too much going on getting ready to chase a third straight AFC North title to keep checking Bell’s locker for evidence of his arrival.“When he gets here, that’s when we’ll start quantifying Le’Veon Bell-related things,” Tomlin said Tuesday.Though Tomlin has been in contact with Bell during Bell’s lengthy sabbatical — the three-time Pro Bowler’s last appearance with the team was during a playoff loss to Jacksonville in January — Tomlin has no idea what to expect whenever Bell signs the contract that will make him both the highest-paid running back in the league and start the countdown to his departure in 2019.So Tomlin declined to get into specifics about how long it might take for Bell to get ready to play after not practicing for eight months.Could be a week, as it was last year. Could be longer.“Right now, (I’m) singularly focused on the guys focused that have been here,” Tomlin said.Second-year running back James Conner chief among them. The former Pitt star made significant strides during training camp. Following an uneven rookie season in which he dealt with various health concerns — including a knee injury in December that landed him on injured reserve — Conner’s rise over the spring and summer left his teammates confident and his head coach impressed.Asked if he’s more comfortable with the depth behind Bell than he was heading into the 2017 opener John Stallworth Jersey , Tomlin said yes. When asked why, Tomlin simply replied “James.”“The status and condition and the approach of James,” Tomlin said. “We had a rookie that missed a lot of time due to soft tissue injuries and lack of general readiness to a guy that’s done the things that we’ve outlined.”The Steelers drafted Conner in the third round in 2017, capping a remarkable 18 months in which he recovered from a cancer diagnosis in November 2015 to become the ACC’s all-time leading touchdown scorer at Pitt.Conner tweaked his hamstring on the first day of rookie minicamp shortly after being selected and only showed flashes of the player who ran for 3,733 yards and found the end zone 56 times for the Panthers.Conner ran 23 times for 144 yards while occasionally spelling Bell last season. Now he finds himself atop the depth chart until Bell arrives.Conner looked the part of a starter during the preseason, running for a team-high 100 yards, including a bruising 26-yard touchdown run against Green Bay’s starting defense. Conner has also drawn raves for his improvement as a receiver out of the backfield — a weakness last summer — and his work in pass protection.“If we start off with James Jordan Berry Jersey , I think we’ll be fine either way,” guard Ramon Foster said. “He’s a guy that’s made strides. He’s made us confident in him. So he gets the start, we roll with him. No disrespect to (Bell), we’ve got to move. This is a moving train.”NOTES: Tomlin said he believes the team is relatively healthy heading into the opener and did not rule anyone out for Cleveland. WR Antonio Brown (groin) did not play at all during the preseason. TE Vance McDonald (foot) has been out since the first week of training camp while CB Mike Hilton and rookie WR James Washington (oblique) were slowed in late August. … Tomlin said he’s fine with the depth at outside linebacker, but did not rule out whether the team would look to add at the position. Who did AFC North foes add to become future villains for Steelers Nation?"The third day of the NFL draft brought even more Pittsburgh Steelers for Steeler Nation to cheer for. The list includes a punishing rusher, a couple of sack masters and a 6’8” TE. But with that, it serves up more players to serve as instant rivals to boo. Here’s who each team welcomed to oppose Pittsburgh as new members of the AFC North. Baltimore RavensGM Eric DeCosta continued to upgrade the offense in a big way. The Ravens got even speedier with Justice Hill and added David DeCastro Jersey , not just a backup QB, but a possible offensive weapon in Penn State’s Trace McSorley. All in all, it was a pretty solid first draft for DeCosta. Ravens have the potential to be epic on offense, but their defense was pretty close to being ignored.Round 4 Pick 113RB Justice Hill - Oklahoma State Round 4 Pick 123OL Ben Powers - Oklahoma Round 4 Pick 127CB Iman Marshall - USCRound 5 Pick 160DL Daylon Mack - Texas A&MRound 6 Pick 197QB Trace McSorley - Penn StateCleveland Browns After so many years of appropriately being labeled so, the Browns are working hard to no longer be mistakes by the lake. After no First Round selections, GM Phillip Dorsey looked to follow up a solid Day 2 by bolstering their defense. The Browns picked up Mack Wilson, who could be a find in Round 5 and added to an already strong secondary. Round 4 Pick 119S Sheldrick Redwine - Miami Chukwuma Okorafor Jersey , FlaRound 5 Pick 155ILB Mack Wilson - AlabamaRound 5 Pick 170K Austin Seibert - Oklahoma Round 6 Pick 189OL Drew Forbes - Southeast Missouri StateRound 7 Pick 221CB Donnie Lewis Jr. - TulaneCincinnati BengalsMost notably, the Bengals picked up depth at QB and OL with Michael Jordan. It was kind of an underwhelming draft up top for Cincy, but they added decent depth on Day Three.oRound 4 Pick 104QB Ryan Finley - North Carolina StateRound 4 Pick 125DL Renell Wren - Arizona StateRound 4 Pick 136OL Michael Jordan - Ohio StateRound 6 Pick 182RB Trayveon Williams - Texas A&MRound 6 Pick 210LB Deshaun Davis - AuburnRound 6 Pick 211RB Rodney Anderson- OklahomaRound 7 Pick 223CB Jordan Brown - San Diego StateHow many of the above will haunt the dreams of Steeler Nation and who? That question will take a bit to be answered. But to quote Timbuk3 from 1986, “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades”.
