Jets running back Le'Veon Bell sat out last season
Curtis Martin Jerseys 2019 , which means he hasn’t played a game of football since January 14, 2018. So should the Jets get him some work in the preseason,
allowing him to shake off a year and a half of rust before the games count?Jets
head coach Adam Gase isn’t ready to say.“I haven’t talked to him about it yet,”
Gase said today, when asked whether Bell will play in Thursday’s preseason
opener.Gase coached the Dolphins last year, and he said he butted heads with
running back Frank Gore, who wanted to work in the preseason while Gase
preferred to keep him fresh for the regular season.“Frank Gore is a great
example,” Gase said. “I was like, ‘Frank, you are not playing in the preseason.’
He was in my office every day the third preseason game and he was like, ‘I’m
playing.’ It’s hard to argue with Frank Gore. He’s not listening to what I’m
saying. He’s just like, ‘I’m playing. I will be dressed whether or not you put
me in a game.’ We ended up playing him one series and then he stood next to me
for the next two series and says, ‘I’m going back in. I’m going back in.’ It’s
maddening with a guy like that that wants to play that bad and it is a fine line
with Le’Veon, he hasn’t played in a year. At the same time, when’s the right
time? Is it this game? Is it the next one? Is it the next one? Do we just not
play him this preseason? Do we go through the whole time and just give him reps?
All those questions are what we keep talking about.”Gase said the decision will
ultimately be his, and Bell will abide by it.“The one conversation we had about
it, he goes, ‘Whatever you tell me you want to do, that’s what we’ll do.’ So,
he’s been outstanding in that area
White Joe Klecko Jerseys ,” Gase said.NFL stars are increasingly sitting out the preseason, as teams calculate that the injury risk simply isn’t worth it. Bell
may be an exception, however, a star player who sees preseason action just long
enough to get a feel for live games again, and hopefully not long enough to get
hurt. FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Le’Veon Bell firmly believes he made the right
decision, refusing to second-guess missing a season while in a contract dispute
with the Pittsburgh Steelers.The New York Jets star running back is sorry about
only one thing: for letting down the fantasy football owners who expected him to
play. That’s why he sent that apologetic post on Twitter that went viral
Tuesday.“I don’t regret, obviously, sitting out last year, but the only thing is
I wish I could’ve told fantasy owners in some type of way (that) I’m not playing
this year, so they wouldn’t have picked me and things like that,” Bell said
Thursday. “That’s the only thing I really apologized for because a lot of people
picked me not even knowing if I was coming back and things like that, but that’s
what I was really sorry about.“Not because I sat out. I’m sorry about not being
able to kind of communicate with the fantasy players that I’m not playing. A lot
of people felt like they wasted their money and things like that, so that’s what
I apologized for. I’m sorry, again.”Bell appealed to fantasy owners, urging them
to draft him this season — his first with the Jets after signing a four-year,
$52.5 million contract in March.He doubled-down on that Thursday, insisting
people should take him with the No. 1 overall pick.“Man, I’m excited,” he said.
“I think as long as this offense does what this offense can do
Joe Klecko Jerseys 2019 , I feel like anybody can be the No. 1 fantasy guy, just because of the fact we have so much talent.”So are the Jets, who envision Bell
to be a dual threat in Adam Gase’s offense, the way he was used during a
five-year stint in Pittsburgh when he established himself as arguably the most
dynamic running back in the NFL.Bell has shown some flashes of that in the first
week of training camp, although the Jets are making sure to not overload him
early on. He has also been quickly digesting the playbook and developing
chemistry with quarterback Sam Darnold and the rest of the offense.“Compared to
my first day, I feel a million times better,” he said. “Things are starting to
stick a little better. Obviously, at the beginning of things, a lot of words
kind of run together and you get a little confused. But, now, I feel a lot more
comfortable and like I said, I’ll continue to get better.“Next week, I’ll be
even better than I am this week.”Bell had an interesting first few days of camp
as he was pulled out of two consecutive practices to take drug tests.“PEDs and
street drugs tests,” he said. “They wanted to see if I’m on steroids and they
wanted to see if I’m on street drugs.”He also cramped up twice during Sunday’s
session, coming out of practice so the trainers could work on him.“I wasn’t used
to the long practices, rep after rep after rep,” Bell said. “You can’t really
train for football shape. You can be in shape and be able to run and everything,
but once you put the pads on and you’ve got that extra 30 pounds on you, it
feels different. So, I think versus last week and fast-forward to this
week
White Wayne Chrebet Jerseys , I feel a lot better.“I’m glad where I am.”Simply being on the football field is a big deal for Bell, who held his position on his
contract situation last year despite many wondering if he was doing his career
more harm by not playing.He has maintained that his body is the healthiest it
has been at this point in an offseason, and he has no worries about picking up
right where he left off in 2017 as a playmaker out of the backfield.“I think
I’ll still be able to do what I’m able to do,” he said. “I mean, I go out here
and practice the same way I practiced two, three years ago, and it feels the
same. It actually feels slower now, for whatever reason. I just think I
understand the game better.”Bell is actually looking forward to the physical
aspect of the game, saying Thursday was the first time in camp he was trying to
get tackled.“I want to get some poppin’ going on a little bit,” he said with a
smile. “I’m a little eager for it.”He also can’t wait to see what he can do in
Gase’s offense, knowing the coach employs an aggressive style — and that could
mean plenty of action for Bell.Just the way he likes it.“You’ve got a mastermind
in Adam Gase, I mean, he’s unbelievable,” Bell said. “I literally watch him in
practice and the way he calls plays and things like that, and he’s like, just
very intelligent in how to call plays and putting guys in the right situations.
It’s really hard to try to stop all the options he has open. … We’ve got to make
sure everybody’s on the same page and once that happens, the sky is the limit
for this offense. We’ve got a lot of talent around on the offense.“We’ve got a
young quarterback who’s starting to understand the offense even more, and it’s
scary. So, I’m excited.”
