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The Steelers need running back Le’Veon Bell for Sunday. Presumably, they’ll have him.

On Thursday, they didn’t; Bell wasn’t at practice. Coach Mike Tomlin told reporters that Bell was excused from practice for “personal reasons.” Tomlin also said that Bell will be ready to go on Sunday at New England.

Bell has been more than ready to go in his first two career playoff games, setting franchise single-game postseason rushing records in both of them. He had 170 yards on Sunday night in Kansas City.

Due to become a free agent in March, it’s hard to imagine the Steelers letting Bell get a sniff of the open market, even if that means applying the franchise tag to keep him in place for at least one more year.