Just a few weeks before their first of two meetings of the season with Pittsburgh, the Ravens waived former Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell from their 53-man roster.
The three-time Pro Bowl selection was only a week removed from his best performance of the season, but Baltimore apparently ran out of patience with Bell, who will now be subject to waivers and could return to the practice squad at some point. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound back averaged just 2.7 yards per carry and saw just 32 touches in five games while backing up fellow veterans Devonta Freeman and Latavius Murray. Bell’s departure may signal the potential return of Murray — who has missed the last three games with an ankle injury — for Sunday’s meeting with Chicago.
Signed to the practice squad in early September after running backs J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards, and Justice Hill were lost for the season in a disastrous run of late-summer injuries, Bell spent September getting into football shape before making his Ravens debut in the Oct. 3 win at Denver. The 2013 second-round pick out of Michigan State was promoted to the 53-man roster a couple weeks later and found the end zone against the Los Angeles Chargers and Minnesota, but he ranked among the worst running backs in the league in both yards per carry before and after contact, reflecting his lack of explosiveness at this stage of his career as well as the Baltimore offensive line’s difficulty in consistently opening running lanes this season. Proponents of Bell’s addition thought he might help as a target out of the backfield for quarterback Lamar Jackson, but he caught only one pass for minus-one yard on three targets.
Bell’s best performance of the season came in the Week 9 win over the Vikings when he rushed for 48 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries in the 34-31 overtime final, but he gained only one yard on three carries in Thursday’s 22-10 loss at Miami. Made available to local media for the first time last week, the former AFC North rival spoke favorably about his experience with the Ravens, a pointed he reiterated on his Twitter account on Tuesday.
“Obviously, playing with Lamar, I felt like coming here, running downhill — the Ravens were a great opportunity for me,” Bell said. “I would start foaming at the mouth when they started calling me. I made sure I was always going to be in shape. I came here, and I had a good workout. They ended up signing me, so I was proud of that.”
What this means for the backfield plan moving forward remains to be seen as the Ravens have received solid production from Freeman in recent weeks. Murray figures to have a meaningful role upon returning from injury, and the Ravens could still take a look at undrafted rookie running back Nate McCrary on their practice squad.
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As for Week 1 starter Ty’Son Williams, however, head coach John Harbaugh didn’t exactly offer a glowing endorsement on Monday when asked what the former practice-squad back needed to do to get more involved after he didn’t play a single offensive snap against the Dolphins. Williams gained 164 yards and averaged 6.07 yards per carry over the first three games of the season, but he’s fallen out of favor since then, looking tentative as a runner and unsure of his assignment on multiple occasions.
“Every player just has to contribute and perform and produce when they’re out there, and that goes for any player,” Harbaugh said. “If you’re a running back, you need to run hard, you need to break tackles, you need to get yards, you need to pass protect, you need to run the right route out of the backfield, catch the ball and get upfield.
“If you’re in the rotation, special teams sure would help you. Get out there and run down kicks, get on the punt team, get on the punt return team because that’s how you got on there when you’re the third back in that case. I’m not talking about one player — it’s anybody in that spot or it’s anybody at any position. You’ve got to produce.”
The Ravens also cut offensive tackle Jaryd Jones-Smith from their practice squad on Tuesday. They protected offensive linemen James Carpenter and David Sharpe, defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie, and linebacker Joe Thomas on their practice squad for Week 11.
As expected, Derek Wolfe’s 21-day practice window expired Tuesday without the veteran defensive end being reinstated to the 53-man roster. His season is officially over as he remains on injured reserve with a back injury sustained in August.
