LATROBE, Pa. -- As James Conner stopped to speak after Wednesday's practice at Saint Vincent College, there were clearly two subjects he doesn't want to talk about.
One, is the elephant in the champagne room. That, of course, would be Le'Veon Bell, the Steelers' All-Pro running back who is sitting out the start of training camp again, and whose job Connor could one day inherit.
The other is even less conspicuous: It's the tuft of hair he's sporting on the back of his head. If all goes well this season, it could be the most famous mullet in Pittsburgh since Jaromir Jagr.
But a lot of things are going to have to go Conner's way before either of those things happen.
With Bell getting the most touches in the NFL last season (407), Conner is still unproven after being relegated to the sidelines for most of his rookie year. He had just 32 carries for 144 yards, albeit for a nice 4.5 yards-per-carry average.
He is very much a work-in-progress, who says he needs to work more on his conditioning and in pass protection — two of Bell's strong suits. But there is good reason why the Steelers selected him in the third round (105th overall) in the 2017 draft. Yes, he's a former Pitt star and his battle against cancer continues to inspire, but the size, the talent and the explosive north-south running ability is there.
It's just a matter of putting it all together, Conner told DKPittsburghSports.com on Wednesday.
"Every day is a new day," said the 23-year-old of few words. "It's just Year 2, second time around the block. Just trying to play fast."
The good news for Connor and the Steelers is that he is able to play fast again.
Lost in the Jesse James "what is a catch?" firestorm in last December's controversial loss to New England, Conner went down in the fourth quarter of that game with a season-ending MCL injury which required surgery.
Conner has since recovered and looked strong in spring practice and in the early going of camp. Actually, he appears slightly smaller than he did this time a year ago. He's listed at 6-foot-1 and 233, though the weight might be a little generous.
"Feel in shape, feel healthy," is all Conner would say.
During a live-tackling period during Sunday's practice, he took a handoff from Ben Roethlisberger and ran through the A-gap, breaking off a 55-yard touchdown run while shaking off two would-be tacklers. That is exactly the kind of progress that Roethlisberger wants to see.
“The biggest thing, James was a rookie last year and his head was spinning,” Roethlisberger said. “Now you’ve got a year so, hopefully, that’s the big one I want to see. I want to see his growth. Everyone wants to see what he is capable of doing with the opportunity he is going to be presented.”
Still, it's way too early to call Conner the heir apparent to Bell, who is likely to bolt Pittsburgh next March in free agency. Conner is currently one of six running backs in camp but is likely at the top of the depth chart, at least for now.
"Le'Veon's not here right now, I'm just going to come out and make the reps count," Conner said. "Any time I get reps, I try to put myself in the moment and, hopefully, take it over to the game."
With the start of the preseason a week away in Philadelphia, it's a big opportunity for Conner, who figures to receive plenty of touches over the next month — or until whenever it is that Bell shows up. When Bell was holding out last summer, Conner had 24 carries -- second-most on the Steelers -- for 124 yards (5.4 per carry) and one reception for three yards in the preseason.
"Looking forward to showing the skills off," Conner says of the upcoming preseason opener.
As he finished up his interview, Conner started to head through the gauntlet of fans that surround the path back to the locker rooms at Saint Vincent College. Save for Antonio Brown and, maybe, Roethlisberger, Conner is arguably the most popular player in camp.
"It's all love," he said before trotting off. "I love playing for the Steelers."
