STEELERS Bell's hernia requires surgery

The fourth-year linebacker will miss the next two games.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- In his fourth NFL season, Kendrell Bell is reliving his sophomore jinx.
The playmaking inside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers will miss at least the next two games with what is now being called a sports hernia.
Bell, who's missed all four games this season, returned to practice last week after having made what coach Bill Cowher called "significant progress." But Bell awoke the next day with more pain in his groin and was scratched from last Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
After receiving a second opinion Tuesday, it was determined Bell would undergo laparoscopic surgery today.
"We're looking at him being out definitely the next couple weeks," Cowher said. "And then we have the bye week and we'll see where he is at that point. That's the time frame."
A sports hernia is different from a true hernia, which is defined as an abnormal opening in the abdominal wall that allows part of the intestine to protrude. A sports hernia is a pulled groin muscle that worsens over time and affects the abdominal wall. The normal recovery period is six to eight weeks.
So far
Bell missed most of the spring coaching sessions with the injury, but thought he had recovered well enough to practice at training camp. He played the first preseason game, but was replaced by Larry Foote because of a shoulder injury.
Bell missed the rest of the preseason and the groin injury resurfaced during the practice week before the season opener against the Oakland Raiders.
"We've tried to use a very conservative approach with him by shutting him down and trying to bring him back slowly," Cowher said. "We just feel at this point that this is the best thing to do for his standpoint and also for ours."
The NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2001, Bell returned too early from a preseason ankle injury in 2002 and struggled through the season. He returned last year to finish second on the team in tackles, but has already missed as many games this season as he did in 2002.
Foote substitutes
Bell has been replaced in the Steelers' lineup by Foote, a third-year player out of Michigan. Foote started three games in place of Bell in 2002 and was credited with 19 tackles that year. This year, Foote is second on the team with 28 tackles. Troy Polamalu leads the Steelers with 30 tackles.
Last Sunday against the Bengals, Foote led the Steelers with nine solo tackles and 11 total tackles. He also tackled quarterback Carson Palmer for his first career sack, and forced a fumble in the third quarter to stop a Bengals drive at the Pittsburgh 32. The Bengals were leading at the time, 17-14.
"Larry's played very well. He's played very solid," Cowher said. "You never want to lose a player but if it's going to happen you'd like to have it in the preseason so you can have groups start to work with one another because you still have to develop that continuity."
The Steelers are 3-1 and host the 2-2 Cleveland Browns on Sunday.