Le’Veon Bell has accepted a plea deal ahead of his scheduled court day today for his DUI and other related charges. According to WPXI, Bell will enter a program for first-time offenders and he’ll be on probation for 15 months. If the running back completes all that is required of him, the charges will be dropped.
You can watch the WPXI report below.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers hope to add another 2,390 seats to Heinz Field before next season. The proposed expansion will add 1,553 general admission seats, 837 premium seats and five suites. The total number of new seats to be added will actually be 2,700, but 310 existing seats will be removed during the project.
A new plaza level will be added just below the Heinz Field scoreboard as part of the project, with new restrooms and concessions as well. The original proposal called for the addition of 3,000 new seats, but for unknown reasons, today’s briefing with the planning commission only called for 2,390.
The team hopes to receive approval within the next two weeks so that construction can begin as soon as the season ends in January. The current seating capacity is 65,050.
Steelers outside linebacker Jarvis Jones could make his return to active duty this Sunday. During his press conference today, Coach Tomlin said that Jones had a positive week last week, and “could possibly be an asset” to the Steelers against Cincinnati this Sunday. Tomlin added, “We’re comfortable with the things we’re seeing from him.”
The team has until December 15th to activate Jones, who was cleared to resume practice activities last Monday. The 2nd year linebacker had surgery to repair a dislocated wrist during the Carolina Panther game in September.
It will be interesting to see how the team gets him back into the rotation. Assuming his wrist is 100%, does he get his starting job back, or do they slowly work him back into the fold? Hopefully we’ll get the answer soon either way.
The Steelers have placed veteran defensive end Brett Keisel on injured reserve today. Keisel suffered what’s believed to be a torn triceps during yesterday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints.
https://twitter.com/steelers/status/539518742766419969
The loss of Keisel will be felt on different levels. The 36 year old DE has been playing some good football these past few weeks, and his veteran leadership on the field will be missed. To make matters worse, the Steelers have lost most of their defensive line depth in the past couple weeks with the losses of Josh Mauro and Nick Williams.
To add depth on the defensive line, the team has signed DE Clifton Geathers. Geathers was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 2010, and has played for Miami (2010), Dallas (2010-11), Indianapolis (2012), Philadelphia (2013) and Washington (2014). Geathers is listed at 6’9″, 299 lbs. He’s played in 37 games over the course of his career.
Veteran defensive end Brett Keisel left the game early today with what looked like a serious triceps injury. After the game, Coach Tomlin said his tricep was being evaluated, but didn’t have any additional information at the time.
Some of Keisel’s teammates are indicating to reporters that he is done for the year. According to Scott Brown of ESPN, James Harrison flat out said that he is done for the remainder of the year.
https://twitter.com/ScottBrown_ESPN/status/539175883417092096
https://twitter.com/dlolleyor/status/539177556227141633
According to Chris Bradford of the Beaver County Times, it’s believed that Keisel suffered a triceps rupture.
https://twitter.com/BCTBradford/status/539176937076568064
Ed Bouchette also echoed the news of Keisel being done for the year.
https://twitter.com/EdBouchette/status/539175548787122177
A win against the New Orleans Saints will place Coach Tomlin among the ranks of some elite coaches with a somewhat obscure stat. A victory today will make mike Tomlin the 7th head coach in NFL history with at least 8 wins in each of their 1st 8 seasons. Only 3 have done so with one team. (H/T Dom Rinelli)
The other 6 coaches to have reached this achievement are George Allen, Dennis Green, Mike Holmgren, John Madden, George Seifert and Don Shula.
A win today would also give the Steelers 8 wins in a season for 11 straight seasons. The only other team with a longer streak is New England with 14 seasons.
Hall of Fame running back and Steelers legend Franco Harris will serve as an honorary co-captain for today’s game, as the team celebrates the anniversary of Super Bowl IX.
Also notable- former Steelers guard Kendall Simmons will lead the Terrible Towel twirl for today’s game.
To honor the 40th anniversary of SB IX, the Steelers will wear these patches on their jerseys today:
https://twitter.com/SteelersPRBurt/status/536865296242311169
Here are some pretty great pics of the reunion taking place during this alumni weekend.
https://twitter.com/Teresa_Varley/status/539099420575662080
https://twitter.com/BCTBradford/status/539094972558213122
https://twitter.com/MarkKaboly_Trib/status/539089335447220224
https://twitter.com/ScottBrown_ESPN/status/539087961954856962
https://twitter.com/Teresa_Varley/status/539080500468809728
With kickoff just over an hour away, the inactives for today’s Steelers/ Saints game have been announced.
For the Steelers:
QB Landry Jones, WR Justin Brown, CB Cortez Allen, CB B.W. Webb, LB Ryan Shazier, OT Marcus Gilbert, and NT Steve McLendon.
The only names on the list that could be considered surprises are Cortez Allen and to a lesser extent, Ryan Shazier. Allen has a cast on to protect a broken thumb that he had surgically repaired recently. Shazier did not seem overly confident earlier in the week that he would be a go for today’s game.
For the Saints:
WR Robert Meachem, RB Khiry Robinson, LB Kyle Knox, OT Nick Becton, DB Terrence Frederick, NT Lawrence Virgil, and DB Stanley Jean-Baptiste.
The Saints recently placed WR Brandin Cooks and NT Brodrick Bunkley on Injured Reserve. NT John Jenkins will start in Bunkley’s place.
The Steelers have released their injury report for the Saints game, and both NT Steve McLendon (shoulder) and CB Cortez Allen (thumb) have been ruled out.
Marcus Gilbert, who missed practice again today with an ankle injury, is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. LB Ryan Shazier is also questionable with his ankle injury. According to Mike Prisuta, Mike Adams believes he’ll start against the Saints.
Ike Taylor (forearm), Martavis Bryant (illness), Shamarko Thomas (hamstring), and Troy Polamalu (non-injury) are all listed as probable for Sunday.
The Steelers wrapped up a Thanksgiving day practice at the south side without Marcus Gilbert. The starting right tackle didn’t participate in practice and was seen leaving the facility early and limping. Gilbert left practice early on Wednesday after getting mixed up with Ramon Foster during a drill. It’s looking unlikely that Gilbert will play on Sunday, so you can expect to see Mike Adams starting in his place.
The only other player who didn’t practice was Troy Polamalu, who was given a veteran day off. CB Cortez Allen (thumb), NT Steve McLendon (shoulder) and LB Ryan Shazier (ankle) were all limited in drills.
Safety Shamarko Thomas (hamstring), CB Ike Taylor (forearm), and WR Martavis Bryant (illness) were all full participants.