Steelers Bell: Bryant Not Perfect

Steelers All-Pro halfback Le’Veon Bell, himself suspended two games to start the 2015 season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy concerning marijuana, said Tuesday that Martavis Bryant “can’t be perfect” after his teammate was suspended by the NFL for one year.

“I’m pretty sure if he wanted to be perfect – if he could be perfect he would, but he can’t be perfect,’’ Bell said during an appearance on the NFL Media podcast R&B with NFL Network analysts Michael Robinson and Nate Burleson. “He can’t be perfect, I can’t be perfect – nobody can.”

However, Bell said that he believes the “sky is the limit for our offense regardless” of Bryant’s absence.

Here is Bell’s full response to regarding Bryant’s suspension, which was announced Monday:

“I was just in a similar situation obviously when I got suspended. When the news first hits and it’s on ESPN and Twitter and everything, it hurts especially when you know it’s about to come out because he probably knew a couple days before. When it actually comes out, it’s not something you can prepare for.

“People are going to tell you that they hate you and all of these negative things, but you have to understand you’re human. You’re a human being. I’m pretty sure if he wanted to be perfect – if he could be perfect he would, but he can’t be perfect. He can’t be perfect, I can’t be perfect – nobody can.

“We all make mistakes. His mistake is more glorified because of what he does for a living. But he has to understand that he’s a human being. He makes mistakes, he’s going to learn from it, he’s going to come back from it. I guess he’s not doing the appeal so he’s just going to take the suspension. I’m going to obviously be there for Martavis whenever he needs to talk to me. I haven’t reached out to him yet because I remember when I was in that situation, I didn’t really want to talk that much. But I was going to reach out to him when I felt like everything had kind of calmed down a little bit and just kind of talk to him.

“I’m pretty sure when he gets back, he’s going to learn from all of this and he’s going to be a better player from it and a better person. That’s what you have to do, you have to overcome it and be a better person.”

--- And Bell elaborating on if the Steelers can still be one of the best offenses in the NFL without Martavis Bryant:

“I think the sky is the limit for our offense regardless. I look back when I watched last year, I didn’t play and the offense it still didn’t matter. The times when Ben [Roethlisberger] was out and [Michael] Vick came in, we still came in and moved the ball. When I came out, DeAngelo [Williams] came in. We have guys, we have depth and I think the fact that we have all of that depth and we have playmakers everywhere, I think our offense is still going to be just as dynamic. Obviously Martavis would make it a lot easier but we still have that next man up [mentality] and that’s the kind of things we’ve been doing.”

--- The full interview with Bell can be seen here.