Le’Veon Bell suspension reduced from 4 games to 3

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell will serve a reduced suspension of three games after an appeal to the NFL, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Bell was originally suspended four games for missed drug tests, but told the media that he planned to appeal and that he did not plan to miss any games.

In a tweet following the reduction of his suspension, which has since been deleted, Bell apologized to Steelers fans and said that he has never purposely missed a drug test and he hasn’t smoked marijuana since 2014.

“In April, they tried to test me on a Saturday morning at 5:37 a.m. and I ended up missing the test,” Bell said on the video. “I was sleeping and that’s on me. I can’t sit here and blame anyone else for missing my tests.”

Bell’s suspension was his second in two years, after receiving a three-game suspension for violating the same substance abuse policy in 2015. He successfully reduced his suspension to two games on appeal last year, but still wound up missing a total of 10 games after sustaining a season-ending knee injury.

The big question was whether Bell would be 100 percent healthy for the start of the season due to the injury before his suspension was handed down. The Steelers’ running game became a huge question mark when his suspension was handed down, however.

Last season DeAngelo Williams filled in quite well for Bell, managing 907 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. He averaged 4.5 yards per carry, which was surprising late in his career, and many wondered if he had enough left in the tank to carry the team’s rushing attack for another four games.

Bell will miss games against Washington, the Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles to start the season, and he will return for the Steelers’ Sunday Night Football matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4.

In three seasons in the league, Bell has rushed for 2,777 yards and 19 touchdowns, including an impressive 1,361 yards and eight touchdowns in 2014. That season, he also had 854 yards and three touchdowns through the air. That’s what he’s capable of doing in a full 16-game season, but missed 10 games in 2015 and three games as a rookie in 2013.