Steelers place Le'Veon Bell on injured reserve

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell suffered what looked to be a serious knee injury against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Bell has a "severely" torn MCL and other damage to his knee, and was placed on injured reserve Monday afternoon, officially ending his season.

It was announced just after halftime that Bell was taken from the stadium to be further evaluated at the hospital and he would not return to the game. The initial exam of Bell's knee has made the team "optimistic" about his ACL, and they hope it's only an injury to his MCL, according to Pro Football Talk. Those hopes were apparently dashed with subsequent reports Sunday night and confirmed by the latest roster move.

Replay of the injury showed Bell's leg twisting at an awkward angle. He was helped to the sideline, but put no weight on his right leg and was eventually carted to the locker room after he was evaluated on a trainers' table.

The 2013 second-round pick racked up 860 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie, then upped his totals to 1,361 yards and 11 touchdowns -- eight rushing, three receiving -- in his second season to earn Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors. After missing the first two games of the season due to a suspension, Bell returned to rack up 511 yards and three touchdowns in five games before he was injured on Sunday.

Entering Week 8, only Todd Gurley of the St. Louis Rams was averaging more rushing yards per game than Bell's per-game figure of 102.2.

Former Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams handled the starting duties for the Steelers when Bell was out for the first two weeks of the season. Williams has 239 yards and three touchdowns on 54 carries for the Steelers in 2015.

The Steelers signed former Rams running back Isaiah Pead to bolster their depth chart at the position.

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