PITTSBURGH -- Now that Le'Veon Bell is back in the lineup, he plans to stay there.
The Pittsburgh Steelers running back has started back-to-back seasons on the NFL's suspension list for violating the league's substance abuse policy, but he's eligible to play Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The personal issues are "behind me," Bell said.
"There shouldn't be any more off-the-field issues. I apologize to everybody for that," said Bell, a free agent in 2017. "I just want to move forward. I'm ready to get back on the field and show people what I'm able to do."
Bell, who leads the NFL with 119 yards from scrimmage per game since 2013, missed two games in 2015 for a possession DUI charge that resulted in probation. He missed an additional three games this season for missing league-administered drug tests.
Bell said he is working to improve in some off-field areas, including taking care of himself and his body and "whatever it takes for me to be on the field."
After missing 10 games last season with a torn medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee, Bell said he is 100 percent healthy.
"I'm not a perfect person. I never will be. I'm not going to try to be," Bell said. "I understand there are some things I can get better at, and I'm going to shoot to get better at them."
Bell's ability as a receiver -- he caught 83 passes for 854 yards in 2014 -- will be welcome after the Steelers averaged just 5.8 yards per pass in a 34-3 loss at Philadelphia.
Bell stayed in Pittsburgh to rehab, train and lift weights while suspended, and though he said it "sucked" to watch the Steelers from a television, he said he is a smarter player than in 2014, when he posted 2,215 yards rushing and receiving.
"Once they plug me in, I feel like I'll go out there and help the guys move the football," Bell said. "I just want to be a guy that's reliable, make sure I take care of the football, make plays in situational downs, get in the end zone, help the offense move the ball and win games."
Asked about sharing a backfield with DeAngelo Williams, who recorded 264 rushing yards and three total touchdowns in Bell's absence, Bell said, "there's always enough room," adding both players are willing to do whatever necessary to win a Super Bowl.