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Mike Tomlin is fully prepared to unleash Le'Veon Bell on the NFL again

We haven’t seen Le’Veon Bell on a football field in earnest since he tore ligaments in his right knee 11 months ago, but rest assured we’ll see plenty of the Pittsburgh Steelers running back come Sunday.

After recovering from surgery and sitting the first three games of this season for missing a drug test, Bell will not only return against the Kansas City Chiefs, but will do so without restriction, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin revealed in a somewhat surprising statement during Tuesday’s media availability.

“His level of conditioning is not a concern to us,” Tomlin told reporters. “He’s a guy that’s highly conditioned over a 12-month calendar. We’ve seen him every day, he’s been a part of this, he’s been in the building, he’s up to speed on what we’re doing from a schematic standpoint, really in tune here. We’ll see how sharp he is physically once we get him out on the practice field and kind of go from there but rest assured, you’re going to see Le’Veon Bell and probably a lot of him on Sunday.”

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DeAngelo Williams has filled in admirably during Bell’s absence, rushing for a league-best 237 yards through the first two weeks of the season. However, after a 2-0 start for the Steelers, they mustered just 251 total yards — only 29 on the ground — in a 34-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3.

In that regard, Bell is arriving just in time. A First Team All-Pro two years ago, the 24-year-old is among the game’s best running backs when healthy, rushing for 4.76 yards per carry over the previous two seasons — a 22-game stretch that also saw him amass almost an additional 1,000 yards receiving.

With Martavis Bryant lost to a season-long suspension, Bell gives quarterback Ben Roethlisberger another much-needed target in an offense that’s relied heavily on First Team All-Pro Antonio Brown. The only question is whether it’s wise to feature him so prominently after his considerable hiatus. After all, Bell was limited to three carries, adding five catches, in his only preseason appearance.

Asked by MMQB’s Peter King if he’s more than just Bell’s backup after his impressive Week 2 effort, Williams insisted, “No! I am an insurance policy. I’m driving the car till L-Bell gets back. I’m trying to keep us in good position till he gets back. That’s good with me. When I came here, I came here to win a Super Bowl. That’s the only thing I care about.” So, certainly don’t expect an internal controversy.

However, should Tomlin put too heavy a burden so early on a player whose last two seasons were cut short by knee injuries, he may never hear the end of it from second-guessing sports talk radio callers.

Following Sunday night’s test against a possible playoff opponent, the Steelers play a pair of games against the struggling New York Jets and Miami Dolphins before sandwiching showdowns with the unbeaten New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens around a Week 8 bye. It might seem wise to ease Bell back over the next few weeks before that midseason stretch, but for a team that managed only three points against their in-state rivals last week, perhaps now is as desperate a time as ever.

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