During Super Bowl LI week, Le'Veon Bell said he was hoping to avoid groin surgery. It appears the Pittsburgh Steelers' running back accomplished that goal.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday that Bell is not expected to undergo surgery after visiting doctors after the playoffs. Bell has not scheduled surgery yet, which would have happened by now if necessary, per Rapoport.
Bell missed most of the Steelers' loss to the New England Patriots due to a groin injury. The dual-threat back told NFL Network earlier this month that he had been dealing with the injury before the AFC Championship game.
"People don't understand I was kind of fighting that through the playoffs," Bell said. "I really hurt it in the Miami game. I played through the whole Kansas City game with it. The beginning of the Patriots game, I felt it."
The NFL is considering whether the Steelers improperly withheld Bell's groin injury from injury reports.
Not having to undergo surgery is a great sign for the free-agent-to-be. The Steelers are likely to use the franchise tag on Bell before the March 1 deadline while the sides attempt to hammer out a long-term contract that could set the running back market pay scale.