Jarrett BellLATROBE, Pa. — It was wet and gloomy Thursday as Pittsburgh Steelers players checked into Rooney Hall for the start of training camp, a steady rain providing a fitting backdrop.
The Steelers have brought legitimate Super Bowl expectations with them to camp, but there is no ignoring the ominous storm clouds hovering in the form of hot-button issues.
Le'Veon Bell, the star running back, is appealing a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s drug policy by missing multiple random tests. Budding receiver Martavis Bryant is gone for the year with a drug suspension. And there’s the unresolved issue confronting grizzled linebacker James Harrison, who is butting heads with the NFL over its investigation into questionable allegations of PED use by several players — including retired and since-cleared Peyton Manning — that surfaced in December.
The opening of camp traditionally signals the jump-start of championship hopes for teams like the Steelers, but in this case it provides the distinct reminder that adversity and distractions are always lurking as pitfalls. But remember, Bell and Bryant started last season with drug suspensions, so the Steelers have seen some of these issues before.
“We’re used to it, sadly,” guard David DeCastro said.
Bell, whose appeal hearing is scheduled for mid-August, apologized to “Steelers Nation” but would not delve into specifics of his case during a brief press conference. During the offseason, he denied violating the drug policy; more recently he vigorously declared on social media that he would win his appeal.
But Thursday he said, “I’m going to let the appeal process handle itself.”
If the suspension sticks, the Steelers, with arguably the NFL’s most potent offense when at full strength, will have to adjust to being without one of the league’s best all-around running backs. But at least Bell, cleared for full duty, is recovered from offseason knee surgery.
DeCastro aptly echoed the sentiments of the group in maintaining that he’s looking for a silver lining, mindful of the injury that prematurely ended Bell’s 2015 campaign.
“Hopefully, we’ll have him for the back stretch,” he said.
Of course, Pittsburgh is hardly alone when it comes to adversity. Just take a look across the NFL landscape, where so many teams are facing issues that run the gamut.
The Dallas Cowboys have three defensive starters derailed by drug suspensions. The New England Patriots, finally getting resolution with Tom Brady’s four-game suspension from Deflategate, must get Jimmy Garoppolo ready to open the season at quarterback. Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry, such an inspiration last year after battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma, is a camp no-show. Berry, the NFL’s comeback player of the year, has yet to sign his one-year franchise tag tender, worth $10.8 million, after failing to receive a long-term deal earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the Houston Texans must deal with the loss of the league’s best defensive player, J.J. Watt, for several weeks as he recovers from back surgery. And the New York Jets finally squashed a crisis by signing quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to a one-year, $12 million deal after a five-month staredown.
Drama is a given in the NFL. Teams that wind up at the finish line will have not only fielded explosive offenses or hot defenses, but almost certainly will have endured some level of gut-check adversity, like the Denver Broncos did last season in staying afloat through Manning’s injury woes. The best teams are the ones that best manage the distractions and setbacks.
Mike Tomlin knows.
The gregarious Steelers coach, who declared Thursday as a “great day,” doesn’t even like to view the myriad issues as crisis. It’s no wonder that with his half-full mindset, he’s proven to be rather adept in handling storms.
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“I’m paid to deal with them,” Tomlin said.
It starts with being upfront and talking openly with his players, he added.
“You never want things that are potentially capable of being a distraction to fester on the perimeter of the group, or in informal side conferences,” Tomlin said.
“My general approach is that I attack the elephant in the room, and then you’re able to move forward.”
Once again, that philosophy will be put to the test.
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Follow NFL columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell
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