Steelers running back James Conner is out for Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders with an ankle sprain.

Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday the injury is "more significant" than the team originally thought. Tomlin classified the injury as a lower leg contusion after last week's 33-30 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Related players: Stevan Ridley, Trey Edmunds, Jaylen Samuels

The Steelers will roll into Oakland with rookie Samuels, veteran Ridley and Edmunds, who was promoted from the practice squad for depth. This week's practices will determine how Tomlin distributes the workload, the story said. Tomlin is claiming the team will use a committee approach, but was quoted in the story as saying Samuels has been "on the rise" in recent weeks. Samuels is looking like a must-add off the wire this week, especially with the possibility Conner misses multiple weeks.

On Steelers RB James Conner: My understanding is the injury is not to his ankle and not considered major at all.

Related players: Jaylen Samuels

Coach Mike Tomlin called it a contusion and it seems like he'll be OK, based on early impressions. How much it swells will be telling, Rapoport went on to say. An earlier report Monday suggested Conner could miss time because of the injury, but based on this it seems like Conner has a chance to play. But, owners may want to grab Samuels if they don't already own him. Whoever starts at RB will get a nice matchup against the Raiders in Week 14.

Steelers running back James Conner suffered a right lower leg contusion in Pittsburgh's 33-30 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday night.

Coach Mike Tomlin confirmed the news in his postgame interview and didn't provide any additional information.

Related players: Jaylen Samuels

While nothing is official, reports say Conner could end up missing some time, which would make Samuels an attractive add this week in fantasy leagues. Coming into this game, Samuels was averaging just over 9-percent of the snaps per game this season. He had five touches against the Chargers, but had only one total touch in Weeks 11 and 12.

The months-long saga surrounding whether or not LeVeon Bell would play for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season was definitively determined Tuesday.

As anticipated, Bell did not sign his Steelers franchise tender by Tuesday's deadline as stipulated under the collective bargaining agreement, meaning the prolific running back is no longer eligible to play this season. With Bell foregoing the $14.45 million he was slated to make under the tag, it's unlikely the running back will ever play a down again with the Steelers.

Related players: James Conner

According to the rest of the story,nNFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Aditi Kinkhabwala reported last week, with the NFL management council and the NFL Players Association agreeing the Steelers couldn't utilize the franchise tag's second-year terms for Bell in 2019, it's almost certain the Steelers will not tag him a third straight year. That's because the third-year franchise tag would pay out the quarterback salary number, and it's highly unlikely the Steelers will pay Bell more than $20 million for one year.

It went on to say the Steelers have two other options -- let Bell walk into free agency when the new league year begins in March or place him under the transition tag. The transition tag is a one-year tender that would allow Bell to negotiate contract offers from other teams. The Steelers would have the right to match any offer sheet Bell signs from another team under the transition tag but would receive no compensation if they don't. There is a potential dispute looming from the NFLPA over what the transition tag number should be for Bell, Pelissero reported.

James Conner still in concussion protocol, but Mike Tomlin said he’ll be given an opportunity to practice tomorrow and that that should “lay those discussions to bed.”

Related players: Jaylen Samuels

As Kinkhabwala went on to say, Conner needs to do some physical work to get out of the protocol, Wednesday is first day he can do that. Seems like the team expects Conner to play in Week 11 against the Jags. Samuels remains a possible handcuff option as the Steelers seem to think highly of their rookie back.

Steelers have not had contact with LeVeon Bell this week.

Related players: James Conner

Fowler went on to tweet barring new development in next few days, team doesn't expect Bell to report for the Thursday night game against Carolina. All eyes are now on the Nov. 13 deadline. If Bell wants to play this year, he must report by this date.

Mike Tomlin was wrapping up his news conference Tuesday afternoon when he was asked the obligatory weekly question about LeVeon Bell’s delayed return to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Anyyy other questions?” Tomlin said, raising his voice into a high pitch while elongating the first word.

Tomlin smiled and walked away as laughter filled the room.

Nothing had changed. It was another day without Bell at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, although, like most others, this one had extra significance.

Related players: James Conner

It was NFL trading deadline day, the final chance for the Steelers to ship their star running back to another team if Bell reported and signed his franchise-tag tender first. Since that didn’t happen by 4 p.m., Bell is free to report to the team without fear of being traded once he puts his name on the $14.55 million contract that has been reduced by $6.84 million because of his eight-week absence.