Burfict backs Mixon: 'Le'Veon is not as good as Le'Veon thinks he is'

Vontaze Burfict wants Le'Veon Bell to know his role.

The Cincinnati Bengals linebacker came to the aid of teammate and rookie running back Joe Mixon on Sunday after Bell commented on Mixon comparing himself to the Pittsburgh Steelers star. Following the Bengals' loss to the Steelers last week, Mixon said he believed he could have produced more than Bell if given an equal amount of touches, and Bell fired back Sunday on Twitter.

Burfict then offered his take on the banter between Mixon and Bell, telling Jim Owczarski of The Enquirer that he thinks his teammate is the better talent.

"Le'Veon is not as good as Le'Veon thinks he is," Burfict said. "So for him to go rattin' on Twitter to talk about my teammate, it's a little bit beyond me. Joe is way better than him. I mean, I play Joe every day in practice and he just has better qualities.

"Joe is better than him. Put it like that."

During last week's game, Burfict kicked a Steelers player, and Bell later tweeted that Burfict's "gotta go."

Mixon said he wasn't sure why Bell would tweet about him, but the rookie plans to stay focused on his own play.

"You know, honestly, I don't know," Mixon said. "I mean, it's unfortunate you feel that way, but like I said, I'm not worried about what he's talking about. I just gotta keep my head down, keep grinding and, you know, it's gonna happen."