PITTSBURGH – RB Le'Veon Bell getting 13 touches in the season opener after missing training camp creates a convenient storyline, which former Steelers RB DeAngelo Williams fueled by tweeting that a five-wide receiver set was a "punishment" (which Bell retweeted).

Bell missed camp because he waited until Sept. 4 to sign his new $12.1 million contract.

But it turns out the Pittsburgh Steelers wanted to run the ball more during a 21-18 win over the Cleveland Browns, according to guard David DeCastro, who said that Bell was not squeezed out of the game plan. But a mix of four first-half penalties, a screen-heavy attack early in the game, and the Browns' run defense steered Pittsburgh off its plan.

DeCastro is eager to regain the Steelers' power-run form. In the second quarter, the Steelers got stuffed on a third-and-1, which doesn't happen with this offensive line very often.

"Just have to get back in rhythm," DeCastro said. "I think we were out of sync, penalties, good runs getting called back. Give [the Browns] credit, too. I think they were doing a good job shutting out the run, so if we do that, we have to pass it around a little bit."

To be sure, Bell had a would-be first down negated by penalty. Though coach Mike Tomlin took what he called a "thoughtful" approach to Bell's snap count (43 of 60 in total), teammates raved about his condition early in the week. The "football shape" argument for his lesser role didn't seem to be a factor. Bell's timing with QB Ben Roethlisberger in the passing game seemed off. But as receiver Eli Rogers pointed out, the offense as a whole was mostly the same way.

"It's hard to get going when you have penalties backing you up," Rogers said. "It affected what we were trying to do."

The quartet of Roethlisberger, Bell, and receivers Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant had played less than a half of football together in 2015 and '16. Developing chemistry will take time. But an easy way to lessen the burden for others is successfully running the ball, a message of which Bell approves.

"I wanted to help the team win, so I want to feel involved at all times," Bell said.