Around the NFL

Le'Veon Bell: Josh Harris ready to play if I can't

Published: Jan 01, 2015 at 03:09 AM

Marc Sessler

Around The NFL Podcast Co-Host

If Le'Veon Bell can't play in Saturday night's wild-card bout with the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh's bell cow says the Steelers will be just fine with undrafted rookie Josh Harris.

"Josh is a very good player," Bell said Wednesday, per the Beaver County Times. "I've been watching him all year. I know what he's capable of. You got a little glimpse of it in the Bengals game. I was happy to see he broke a long run. You saw the speed a little bit. He's definitely ready."

He's right. Harris displayed his wheels on a 59-yard blast against the Bengals that was ultimately called back by a holding penalty. Still, the former Wake Forest standout has just 16 yards off nine carries this season as a rarely used spot-duty runner behind Bell, the NFL's second-leading rusher. Behind Harris, we don't trust rookie Dri Archer or veteran Ben Tate -- already released by two teams this season -- to storm the gates.

NFL Media's Aditi Kinkhabwala reported that Bell walked with no discernible limp on Wednesday, but still acknowledged that he was "day by day" leading up to the Baltimore tiff. If Bell can't suit up, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger told Kinkhabwala the team has full confidence in Harris.

No matter who roams the backfield, the Steelers are bound to take advantage of Baltimore's banged-up secondary. Considering how rugged the Ravens are against the run, Big Ben was a lock from the start to take shots downfield in this AFC North winner-take-all grudge match.

The latest Around The NFL Podcast previews this weekend's four Wild-Card matchups and predicts who will advance. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.

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