CINCINNATI -- Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell was clearly keeping an eye on Bengals rookie Joe Mixon on Sunday.
Bell took some shots at Mixon via his Twitter account during the first half of the Bengals' 24-23 victory over the Colts. With the Steelers playing in the late game, Bell was apparently watching the Bengals' contest and hadn't forgotten about some comments Mixon made about him the week before.
for someone who feels they can do "way more" than I can, sure seems like u wanna be me! tryin to mimic my run style, my 1st down celebration
— Le'Veon Bell (@L_Bell26) October 29, 2017
now u wear an arm sleeve on your left arm AND went to the mismatch gloves too?! lol just change your number from 28 to 26 while your at it..
— Le'Veon Bell (@L_Bell26) October 29, 2017
Although Bell didn't refer to Mixon by name, the rookie wears No. 28, and Bell wears No. 26.
After Pittsburgh's 20-15 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday night, in which Bell ran for 76 yards and a touchdown, the Steelers running back explained the genesis of his tweet.
"I was just watching football how I normally do, watching the Bengals play, and he had a run and the first down happened, and he did kind of like my celebration, and it took me back to last week when he was saying he can do way more than I can," Bell said. "That's why I made the tweet. I just felt like if that's how he feels, you shouldn't try to do exactly how I do.
"I just felt like if you say certain things, there are just certain things in life about respect. It's a respect thing ... just because we made a play against each other or whatever or I had a bigger game against the Bengals, it really doesn't mean anything. You say that in the media. You might really feel like that. I hope he feels like that. But if you want to say it out loud to the media and things like that, it's different. I decided to say something back."
Mixon expressed frustration after a loss to the Steelers last Sunday. He had no second-half carries and only seven total carries in the loss, while Bell had 35 carries.
"Me, personally, I feel like I can do way more than [Bell] did. Like I said, I only had seven carries. I can't showcase nothing if I don't get the ball. There's nothing else I can say," Mixon said.
"It's frustrating. I feel like I'm seeing [Bell] got the ball 35 times, and I got it seven in the first half and then don't touch the ball again," Mixon said. "[Jeremy] Hill only got one touch in the second half. It's frustrating to us running backs. We feel like we're in the room, and we feel like we're part of the offense. If it worked in the first half, why not do it in the second?"
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said Mixon needed to "show maturity" with his comments. However, his words did not affect his playing time. Mixon caught a screen pass that went for 67 yards in the first half of the game against the Colts. He finished with 11 rushes for 18 yards and three receptions for 91 yards.
After the game, Mixon said he had not seen Bell's comments, but he wasn't concerned about them.
"I'm just going to continue to keep grinding and do what I do best, and that's playing football," Mixon said. "I'm going to try to do the best I can each and every play and each and every drive. And ... I'm just going to keep on grinding.
"It's unfortunate he feels that way, but like I said, I'm not worried about what he's talking about. I'm going to keep my head down."
While Bell said Mixon was trying to imitate him, Mixon said he has always admired and tried to emulate Adrian Peterson, with whom he worked out in the offseason.
"How he runs, the way he finishes, I try to do a little bit of what he does," Mixon said. "I try to mix up a lot things in my running style, but for the most part, I try to do what I do."