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PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers spent the better part of 10 months waiting on Le’Veon Bell to show up for work. They said all the right things Jerome Bettis Jersey , stressed they understood the star running back was making a business decision by opting to stay home in hopes of protecting himself ahead of a potentially lucrative payday next spring.And they’d welcome him with open arms whenever he returned.On Wednesday, with Bell’s absence for the rest of the season a certainty after he declined to sign his one-year, $14.5-million franchise tender , they exhaled.And pillaged.Bell’s teammates invaded his locker after practice, helping themselves to whatever they wanted — or at least whatever fit — with Bell’s career in Pittsburgh all but over. It wasn’t personal. Just business. A celebration of sorts to honor — they hope anyway — the last time they’ll have to answer questions about Bell’s unorthodox approach, one that included leaving his teammates in the dark about his plans.“I think we all just assumed he’d be here and it’d be the same as the year before,” guard David DeCastro said. “It amazes me in this day and age when you can tweet about things but you can’t talk to each other. You’re so connected, but you’re disconnected at the same time. It’s really interesting when you think about it from the big picture side of it. After that it is what it is, you stop worrying about it and you just move on.”Something the first-place Steelers (6-2-1) are more than happy to do. They take a five-game winning streak into Sunday’s game at Jacksonville (3-6) looking for a bit of revenge against a team that beat them twice last season at Heinz Field, including a 45-42 stunner in the divisional round of the playoffs.Bell finished with 157 total yards and two touchdowns in the loss. The Steelers cleaned out their lockers the following day James Conner Jersey , Bell among them. Despite saying he wanted to be a “Steeler for life” he never returned.Ben Roethlisberger attempted to reach out to Bell, texting him before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline saying he hoped Bell would come in and sign. Bell never arrived and never responded to the quarterback he played alongside during the first five years of his career.“He was a great teammate here, a great football player,” Roethlisberger said. “To each his own on what they want to walk away from.”The Steelers, meanwhile, will try to move forward without the versatile Bell, who played a vital role in the team’s run of four straight playoff berths. Yet they have hardly missed a beat thanks to the rapid development of second-year back James Conner. The former Pitt star is second in the NFL in yards from scrimmage (1,158 yards) and his 10 rushing touchdowns are already one more than Bell ever put up in a single season.Conner’s success, however, also put him in an awkward position. He considers Bell a friend — and while Bell did otherwise stay silent on Tuesday he did share an Instagram story that appeared to show him promoting Conner to make the Pro Bowl — and never wanted to be put into an adversarial position against a mentor.“I never really pay attention to it https://www.thesteelerslockerroom.com/authentic-terrell-edmunds-jersey ,” James said. “I always go by the model ‘control what you can control,’ so I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing.”Those concerns are gone now. While Bell will spend the next four months getting ready to hit free agency in hopes of landing a contract that would make him the highest-paid back in the NFL, Conner’s goals are more immediate. He sat out the late portions of a 52-21 romp over Carolina last Thursday after being placed in the concussion protocol for the first time as a pro.Conner admitted he felt “dizzy” initially, but was cleared to return to practice on Wednesday and should be fine to face the Jaguars.“I feel good, feel like me again,” Conner said. “Back to normal.”And his team again looks like the class of the AFC North. While Bell’s absence caused a furor when he didn’t come in before the regular season began — as he did in 2017 — things have died down considerably over the last month. Going unbeaten since the start of October helps. So does having Conner look like a Pro Bowler in his own right.“It’s nice that it’s over,” DeCastro said. “I don’t have to give (the media) clichés, broken-record answers. We’re just going to keep getting James some more yards and keep winning games. At the end of the day it’s been fun. We’re on a roll and the season goes by a lot faster when you’re winning games.”NOTES: The NFL flexed San Diego’s visit to Pittsburgh on Dec. 2 to 8:20 p.m. EDT. The game had originally been scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. … The league also moved Pittsburgh’s game at Oakland on Dec. 9 from 8:20 EDT to 4:25 EDT. … RT Marcus Gilbert (knee) and DE Stephon Tuitt (elbow) did not practice on Wednesday. … Roethlisberger was given the day off, as is typical. The Pittsburgh Steelers have certainly turned the corner, or as Mike Tomlin said Womens Terrell Edmunds Jersey , “Removed that September stench” off themselves. How did they do it? By getting to the quarterback, and protecting their own quarterback.Everyone knows the usual data related to defensive pass rush, and that usually is based solely on quarterback sacks, but sometimes just hitting the quarterback can be effective. For instance, against Joe Flacco in Week 9, the Steelers just getting to the Ravens’ quarterback can cause him to deliver the ball sooner than expected, and disrupt the play.It doesn’t equate in a sack, but certainly gets registered as a QB Hit.For all NFL teams, through Week 8, the Steelers have an impressive ranking when it comes to hitting the opposing signal caller. Check out the data Womens James Conner Jersey , which has Pittsburgh second in the league with 55 QB Hits.Those numbers are impressive, but protecting Ben Roethlisberger might be the most important facet of every game the Steelers play. Good news for the Pittsburgh faithful, the offensive line has been doing more than enough to keep No. 7 off the ground. During the Steelers’ most recent three game winning streak, the offensive line has surrendered just one sack, and two quarterback hits. Bengals and Browns during that stretch, and some of those teams sport some very aggressive defenses. Just any defense wants to at least hit the QB, the Steelers rank in the Top 3, through Week 8, in regards to QB Hits allowed. Their 25 allowed trails only the Lions and Saints above them.What does this all mean? Simple. The Steelers’ goals of getting to the QB T. J. Watt Jersey White , and protecting their own, have been put into practice and it has equated in winning more football games. This will be a weekly struggle on both sides of the ball, but if they continue to win the battle in the trenches there is no doubt they will be on their way to not only a winning season, but a third straight AFC North division title and punching their ticket to the postseason.