Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers' Le'Veon Bell takes shot at Bengals, says teams try to 'take me out'

Published May. 24, 2016 4:39 p.m. ET

foxsports

It's been more than six months since he suffered a torn MCL, but Pittsburgh Steelers' All-Pro running back Le'Veon Bell believes the injury wasn't totally an accident.

After taking part in his first practice since the season-ending injury against the Bengals at Heinz Field on Nov. 1, Bell said he believes the injury, which resulted from a hit by Vontaze Burfict, was far from a coincidence.

"I don't think it was just (Burfict); it was like the whole team was really out there trying to like twist my ankles and do little dirty stuff in between the piles," Bell said, via the Pittsburgh Tribune.

But Bell wasn't done pointing the finger at the opposition. He added that a number of teams take part in these egregious tactics.

"I feel like there's a lot of teams that do that, try to take me out of the game," Bell said.

When asked to elaborate, Bell opted not to name which teams cross the line.

"Umm, a couple, but obviously a lot of teams in our division really play that same way, so obviously I know that -- I just was kind of ignorant to that at first because I didn't think people played like that."

Bell averaged a career-high 4.9 yards per carry before the injury last year. But will this injury alter Bell's bruising style? It doesn't sound like it will.

"I'm still going to be physical; I just know that when I'm on the sidelines I can't expect somebody to just push me out of bounds, you know?" Bell said. "I can't take nothing for granted. I have to really protect myself â either get out of bounds or continue to finish the play."