Allgemeines » Maurice Jones-Drew suggests Todd Gurley’s new

contract and teammates’ comments altered Le’Veon Bell’s return plans While there are many names within the national media who attempt to speak on behalf of Le’Veon Bell Jesse James Jersey , few of them actually have any intimate knowledge of his situation with the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, one exception to that statement might be NFL Network analyst and former Jacksonville Jaguars’ running back Maurice Jones-Drew. Having had the same agent as Bell and also one of his friends with whom he speaks fairly regularly, Jones-Drew probably has had more contact with the Steelers’ absentee running back than anybody else in the organization in recent weeks. If we assume his insights have more value than most, then his appearance as a guest on the Rich Eisen Show revealed some telling information about Bell’s current thought processes. Perhaps his most interesting revelation was his take on why Bell didn’t show up for the start of the season. As Eisen observed in his opening question, his agent, Adisa Bakari, had always implied the plans for his client would closely follow the way he had approached the 2017 season when playing under the franchise tag, barring something exceptional happening. When it became obvious Bell wasn’t going to arrive in Pittsburgh for opening day, Bakari appeared on a radio show suggesting something out of the ordinary must have occurred to change his client’s mind, but no answer was ever given to questions about what that incident was.Jones-Drew did his best to explain what this exceptional circumstance had been when speaking with Eisen, and it turns out Bell’s continued absence is not inspired by only one event.With Johnson signing a three year deal that included a $30 million guarantee and Gurley a four year extension with potentially as much as $45 million guaranteed, Jones-Drew is clearly voicing Bell’s displeasure when he noted the level of guarantees the Steelers were offering.It’s worth noting that $19 million is a much lower figure than the $33 million in guarantees reported in July, when Pittsburgh made their last offer to Bell. But perhaps Jones-Drew is referring to the signing bonus amount the Steelers offered him and a number more in line with the figure expected. Citing James Conner’s 37 touches in Week 1 as proof his friend was right to sit out, Jones-Drew was quick to explain Bell’s continual appearances on TMZ’s website as a consequence of being a “music artist” doing “other things.” Claiming Bell was still training, despite how he looked when last filmed in Miami, laughably, Eisen concurred Ryan Shazier Jersey , adding that he “looks great.”Jones-Drew’s suggestion that he wouldn't show up until Week 11 if he was in Bell’s shoes gives a fairly strong indication that this is probably his friend’s intention too, but it seems clear that Pittsburgh should see their star runner return by then, if Jones-Drew really is repeating what Bell has already told him.While we’re wary of putting too much stock in the words of an analyst from the NFL Network, much of what Jones-Drew said appears to fit with decisions Bell has made to this point. And if the Steelers’ running back is listening to the advice coming for the former NFL back, it seems obvious his holdout will not be ending anytime soon either.Steelers vs. Buccaneers Final Score: Steelers break through in prime time, hold on to win 30-27 The Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered Week 3 under very different circumstances. Tampa Bay was red-hot coming in with a 2-0 record, and the Steelers had yet to crack the win column after starting with an 0-1-1 record. All that aside, this matchup had the look of a shootout in its purest form. Ryan Fitzpatrick had been the NFC’s best quarterback through the early portion of the season, and Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers’ offense were no slouch either.When the game got underway, it was Pittsburgh receiving the opening kickoff, and a three-and-out was what ensued after a special team penalty pushed them back on the opening kickoff. After another mediocre Jordan Berry punt, the Steelers’ defense stood tall and forced a three-and-out of their own on the Buccaneers’ first possession of the game.On the second Pittsburgh possession it was Tampa Bay who drew first blood when Justin Evans stepped in front of a Roethlisberger pass intended for JuJu Smith-Schuster and gave the Buccaneers tremendous field position after the interception. With the ball on the Pittsburgh 46-yard line, it took just four plays for Fitzpatrick to find Cameron Brate for a 4-yard touchdown to give Tampa Bay an early 7-0 lead.With a chance to answer, on third-and-10 Roethlisberger found a wide open Vance McDonald who stiff-armed Chris Conte into next week on his way to a 75-yard touchdown. However, Chris Boswell’s kicking woes continued with a missed point-after, his second in the past two weeks, and the score was 7-6 midway through the first quarter.After Tampa Bay threatened to add to their lead Mel Blount Jersey , an Anthony Chickillo sack on third down pushed them out of field goal range and forced a punt. The Steelers turned the possession into a Boswell field goal, his first of the season, giving Pittsburgh a 9-7 lead.The Buccaneers’ next possession ended quickly when Fitzpatrick completed a pass to C.J. Godwin, but Artie Burns jarred the ball loose and it was recovered by Mike Hilton for the first Pittsburgh turnover of the game. Two plays later, Ben Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown on a quick slant, and after making a defender miss Brown was off to the races for the score. Boswell tacked on the extra point to give the Steelers a 16-7 lead.For the second straight possession, Ryan Fitzpatrick had the Buccaneers in scoring position, but a Jon Bostic tipped pass turned into a Mike Hilton interception, denying Tampa Bay of points again.Pittsburgh failed to turn the turnover into points, but on the next Tampa Bay drive Fitzpatrick was picked off again, this time by rookie safety Terrell Edmunds.For the second straight possession, the Steelers failed to convert the turnover into points, giving the ball back to the Bucs.What happened next was Fitzpatrick’s third straight interception, this time to Bud Dupree and Dupree walked into the endzone for the Steelers’ touchdown. The Boswell point-after made the score 23-7 with 2:50 left to go in the first half.The Buccaneers weren’t going to just roll over and die, and a big pass play from Fitzpatrick to Mike Evans moved the Tampa Bay offense inside the 10-yard line. However, the Steelers’ defense held strong and forced a 21-yard field goal attempt to make the score 23-10 with 1:15 left in the half.Boswell made the extra point, giving the Steelers a 30-10 lead heading into halftime. The Buccaneers started the second half with the football Mike Webster Jersey , and despite driving down into the red-zone, and facing a first-and-goal from the 6-yard line, they came away with only three points. The field goal made the score 30-13 with just over 7-minutes remaining in the third quarter.After a lengthy drive of their own ended in another Chris Boswell missed field goal, Fitzpatrick and the Bucs’ offense continued to pass their way back into the game. The next Tampa Bay drive took up a lot of time, but ended in a C.J. Godwin touchdown reception to make the score 30-20 with 11:06 left in the fourth quarter.The Steelers’ failed to put up any points since the second quarter, and Tampa Bay came storming back into the game when Ryan Fitzpatrick hit Mike Evans with just over 5-minutes left in the game to narrow the lead to 3-points, 30-27.James Conner came alive on the ensuing Pittsburgh drive, and on 3rd and 9 from the 36-yard line, Ben Roethlisberger threw incomplete to Antonio Brown and the Steelers were forced to punt the ball away with 3:22 left in the game, putting the pressure on a defense which has provided little resistance in the second half.Pittsburgh forced a punt with 2:34 left in the fourth quarter, and on 2nd down Ben Roethlisberger hit JuJu Smith-Shuster for a huge first down. On the next play from scrimmage James Conner rumbled for a first down, icing the game away. The win gives the Steelers their first win of the season, and moves their record to 1-1-1 heading into a Week 4 game vs. the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football at Heinz Field. Be sure to stay locked to BTSC for all the best Steelers coverage leading up to the huge AFC North grudge match next Sunday.