Police File Marijuana Possession Charges Against Le’Veon Bell & LeGarrette Blount

Update:

Ross Twp Police have filed marijuana possession charges against Steelers RBs Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount, per Mike Garafolo.

• Bell is also being charged with a DUI.

Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the Steelers plan to allow the NFL to “handle any disciplinary measures” involving the two players.

Aditi Kinkhabwala of the NFL Network reported earlier in the day that the Bell and Blount are both expected to play in tonight’s game.

The Steelers’ reasoning here is that with jobs on the line, the whole team shouldn’t suffer for their mistake.

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Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that although Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell did not travel with the team to Philadelphia for their third preseason game, he did manage to travel their on his own.

Bell and fellow Steelers RB LeGarrette Blount were both charged with marijuana possession on Wednesday, with Bell also receiving a DUI.

Ross Township detective Brian Kohlhepp said traffic officer Sean Stafiej pulled over a Camaro operated by Bell around 1:30 p.m. Stafiej reportedly noticed a strong odor of marijuana coming from the car and found a 20 gram bag of marijuana upon searching the vehicle.

Both players are sitting atop the Steelers’ depth chart and are expected to handle the majority of the workload this season, so this is hardly the type of news Pittsburgh wants to come across just weeks before the start of the season.

It seems likely that the Steelers and the NFL will allow the legal process to play out with both players before disciplining them on their own. Bouchette expects them to face no more than a one-game suspension.

Bell, 22, was expected to handle the majority of the team’s carries, but Blount appears to have worked himself into some sort of a timeshare. Last year, Bell ran for 860 yards on 244 carries (3.5 YPC) and scored eight touchdowns.

Blount, 27, signed a two-year contract worth $3.85 million, which included a $950,000 signing bonus. He put together an impressive season for the Patriots last year when he ran for 772 yards on 153 carries (5 YPC) and scored seven touchdowns.