The Pittsburgh Penguins jersey. The black-and-yellow Jordans. Sweatpants. Cleats. His shoulder pads. Everything remains the same as it was when Bell walked out of the team's facility in January to begin his standoff with the club.The only thing that's been disturbed is the chair. Some days a teammate's workout clothes dangle from the back of it. On others — like Monday — a Steeler uses the seat as a spot to throw his lunch plate.When Bell returns to reclaim his spot is uncertain. The first day of the team's bye week came and went without Bell coming in to sign his one-year franchise tender. What's becoming increasingly clear www.steelerscheapshops.com , however, is that the Steelers are just fine moving on with Bell, or without him.The anger over Bell's decision to not report in time for the regular season opener has subsided. In its place is something akin to exasperation and resolve. One of coach Mike Tomlin's favorite metaphors is to describe each season as a train that's on the move.Pittsburgh (3-2-1) appears to be picking up steam. Bell is standing still. If he'll ever be able to catch up in time to have any impact on Pittsburgh's season is anyone's guess. The last six weeks have been so eventful beyond Bell's absence — from a sluggish start by the defense to wide receiver Antonio Brown's weekly histrionics — the players aren't even getting hit up for inside information on Bell's plans when they get home from work."They know our sole focus is on us winning football games," right tackle Marcus Gilbert said. "They're not bothering me with that. It's strictly about football. Ask me about anything else, the guys on the team currently. But until he shows up, then we can't talk Le'Veon."And at the moment, there's no reason to. Not with the way James Conner is running the ball. The second-year back rolled up 111 yards rushing and two touchdowns in Pittsburgh's 28-21 victory over Cincinnati on Sunday, his third game of at least 100 yards and two scores in the first six weeks. Only four other players in NFL history have done that."James just wants to put his hand in the pile and be one of the reasons why we win," Tomlin said. "He wants to prove that (he belongs)."There appears to be very little proving left to do.Conner, a former Pitt star, set an Athletic Coast Conference record for touchdowns during his college career but has become perhaps better known for his battle with cancer in 2015 and 2016. On the same day he helped the Steelers to their 18th win in 21 trips to Paul Brown Stadium, he shared a pregame moment with a young fan waging his own war with the disease.Conner is aware of the platform he's been given but is also doing his best to keep the focus on his job. He has a high level of respect for Bell — who tweeted out his congratulations after one of Bell's punishing runs against the Bengals — and wants to continue to be a beacon of hope for cancer patients.At the same time, he also just wants to tuck the ball under his right arm and run as hard as he can for as long as he can. Asked to describe why he's becoming more successful as the weeks pass, Conner is quick to point to an offensive line that hasn't allowed a sack or made him work too hard behind the line of scrimmage during Pittsburgh's modest two-game winning streak."The goons up front, it always starts up front with the O-line," Conner said. "As they go, we go."The question becomes which way the Steelers go when Bell does decide to pull on his familiar No. 26. He considers himself one of the best all-around backs in the league and has the accolades — two-time All-Pro, three-time Pro Bowler — to prove it. Yet he also hasn't been hit in nine months and has kept a decidedly low profile, at least in terms of his physical activity, during his sabbatical."However it all shapes up, we know he's a player that can't be replaced, he's a special player," Gilbert said. "But any guy that we put in there will be a different type of player. Him and James are different type of running backs and they'll complement each other really well."Then Gilbert paused ever so slightly and drilled down beyond platitudes to reality."Like I said Pittsburgh Steelers T-Shirt , I don't really want to talk Le'Veon to you until he shows up," Gilbert said. "Be interested to see what kind of shape he's in and how he can help better this team because it's a different outfit than last year." The Pittsburgh Steelers have now won five straight games and continue to “stack wins.” After their 52-21 thrashing of the Carolina Panthers in Week 10, the team now has a chance to rest and relax and prepare for the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11. Today in the black-and-gold links article, we talk about how the Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers going head-to-head in Week 10 equated to big ratings for the NFL. While most players, and even many fans, can’t stand Thursday Night Football, as long as the NFL, and by proxy FOX, see more money coming it, it won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.Let’s get to the news:Steelers-Panthers game Thursday sees ratings spike on Fox, digital platformsBy: Joe Rutter, Pittsburgh Tribune-ReviewThursday nights continue to be a hit for the Steelers.Not only did the Steelers improve to 8-1 on Thursday night games at Heinz Field with a 52-21 victory against the Carolina Panthers, the game was watched by 15.4 million viewers across all media platforms.That is a 15 percent increase over the Week 10 Thursday night matchup in 2017 between Seattle and Arizona and represented a 10 percent increase above the combined ratings for the 10-game Fox Thursday night package in 2017.In addition to rightsholder Fox, the media platforms included NFL Network, FoxDeportes, NFL digital, Fox Sports digital, Amazon and Yahoo Sports.The Nielsen audience for the Steelers-Panthers game was 14.8 million viewers, a 13 percent increase over the 2017 Week 10 matcup.The game also featured a substantial uptick in digital streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Twitch, NFL digital platforms, Fox Sports digital platforms and Yahoo Sports. The average minute audience of 782,000 viewers represented a 105 percent increase over the 2017 Week 10 time slot.The Steelers Pittsburgh Steelers Hats , ‘instrumental’ in city’s recovery, are back homeBy: Jeremy Fowler, ESPNDRESSED IN A BLACK Pittsburgh Steelers shirt, the woman sniffed back tears as she made her way through the still-crowded memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill, gently, unconsciously rolling a small stone in her right palm. I never intended to start this “week with the Steelers” diary with a visit to Squirrel Hill, but you realize quickly that, in this town, there’s no way to separate the two: On this Monday morning, the two items above the fold in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette are James Conner and the Squirrel Hill Massacre. There are more parallels: David and Cecil Rosenthal, two of the 11 victims in the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in United States history, were brothers of Michele Rosenthal, the team’s former community relations manager; head coach Mike Tomlin lives a block from the synagogue, near Art Rooney II, as well; two buses of Steelers players, along with Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris, attended the victims’ funerals last week. In Baltimore, eight days after the attack, Ben Roethlisberger sported cleats with the now ubiquitous “Stronger Than Hate” logo featuring the star of David as part of the Steelers logo.That logo is everywhere at this memorial, held this week at Tree of Life -- still framed by yellow police tape and bursting with flowers, candles, rain-soaked signs and heart-breaking personal notes. It’s painted onto the stones that mourners have left behind for the dead, following Jewish custom. There are thousands of stones here now Pittsburgh Steelers Hoodie , some precariously stacked four, five high, on top of the nameplates, and when you begin to contemplate the massive, collective tapestry of grief they form, it’s instantly overwhelming. The rest of the world may have moved on already to the next mass shooting -- another 13 dead just 12 days later, in Thousand Oaks, California -- but the sorrow in Squirrel Hill lingers.Even here, the Steelers mean something. Along with the stones, which feature the team logo, there is a man in a wheelchair paying his respects while wearing a throwback Troy Polamalu jersey. A woman stands at a steel barricade, bowed in prayer, holding up a giant poster asking people to put a Steel Curtain of love around the Tree of Life. “Obviously, everyone is still really feeling the pain, but the Steelers have been instrumental in uniting this community and supporting these poor families,” says Dr. Stanley Marks, a lifelong Pittsburgh resident, Pitt grad and the chairman of the nearby UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. “Forget sports -- this team is an important fabric of the community.”After leaving Tree of Life, I walked up a small hill to the Commonplace Coffeehouse on Forbes Avenue, which had recently received a $650 donation -- free coffee for all on Saturday, Nov. 3 -- from citizens in Newtown, Connecticut, who experienced the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. Just a few months ago Cheap Customized Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys , I was in Jacksonville, working on a story about a shooting at a Madden tournament. The killer walked right by a giant poster of the latest Madden NFL cover, featuring Steelers wideout Antonio Brown. Sports used to be our escape, but the Steelers represent the new normal now: Each of us connected, sometimes in multiple ways, to a mass shooting.As I walked back to my car, a strange thumping noise stopped me in my tracks at the foot of the Jewish Community Center on the west side of Squirrel Hill, where the clock tower is in Hebrew, the flag is at half-mast and the steps remain covered in flowers. Eventually I traced the sound to a large bay window at the front of the building where toddlers in the center’s day care had crowded onto the windowsill and were pounding on the glass until each passerby stopped what they were doing to smile and wave back at them.Even the bus drivers were pulling up short of their stop to open their doors to wave to the kids. As they did, the info screens on the sides of the buses flashed the words: Pittsburgh Strong.Don’t expect to hear much about James Conner before WednesdayBy: Mike Florio, ProFootballTalkSteelers running back James Conner exited Thursday night’s game and entered the concussion protocol. Don’t expect to hear anything more about him until Wednesday.The Steelers have no obligation to comment any player’s health until next Wednesday, when the first injury report is due in advance of a Week 11 game against the Jaguars. With running back Le’Veon Bell facing a Tuesday deadline to report or sit out the rest of the season, the Steelers have no reason to say anything about Conner’s availability, or lack thereof, before Bell shows up, or doesn’t.If Conner is expected to miss time (and with a concussion who knows?), Bell would have a burst of leverage as the door closes on his ability to play. If the Steelers need Bell, maybe they’d pay him more than $855,000 per week, or maybe they’d include an incentive package or something else like that in order to get him to show up.Chances are the Steelers would simply hold firm on Bell’s franchise tender and assume Conner won’t miss much if any time. The team has shown no inclination to bend on Bell, and it’s unlikely that they’ll start doing it now.