Bell may not be ready for Steelers' 1st game

The linebacker has missed the last three exhibition games with a sore shoulder.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- For the second straight season, the Pittsburgh Steelers might go into their opener without one of their key defensive players.
Last year, outside linebacker Joey Porter sustained a gunshot wound during a Labor Day weekend trip to Denver and missed two games.
This time, it's right inside linebacker Kendrell Bell, troubled by a persistently sore shoulder that kept him out of the last three exhibition games.
The Steelers were confident that Bell would be ready by now, but they may not know until later in the week if he can play Sunday against Oakland.
Game experience
Even if Bell can play, he will have had almost no game experience since the end of last season.
"He hasn't really hit anybody in a couple of weeks, but he's gotten significantly better," coach Bill Cowher said. "We'll see where he is Wednesday and then go from there."
Cowher said much the same thing last week, when he was optimistic that Bell would play in the final exhibition game. If Bell can't go, backup Larry Foote likely will start.
With Porter coming off a down season, and former backup Clark Haggans starting in place of team career sacks leader Jason Gildon at outside linebacker, the Steelers were counting on Bell to again play like the 2001 NFL defensive rookie of the year.
Bell had nine sacks that season but only nine combined the last two seasons, one reason he trimmed down from 255 pounds to 240 during the offseason.
Outside linebackers
Still, the Steelers might be more concerned if one of their outside linebackers had gone down. Alonzo Jackson, a 2003 second-round draft choice who dressed for only two games last season, is listed as the top backup to Haggans and Porter -- the two most important players in the Steelers' 3-4 defense.
Jackson vowed when training camp started that he would unseat Haggans as a starter, but it didn't happen even after Haggans missed three exhibition games with a broken hand that occurred during a weightlifting mishap shortly before camp started.
Jackson, a defensive end at Florida State, is having trouble making the adjustment to being an NFL outside linebacker who occasionally drops into pass coverage.