Broadway Joe
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- Mar 19, 2019
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He didn’t play at all in 2018. In 2017, he showed up after the preseason ended. This year, in his first season with the Jets, running back Le'Veon Bell may make zero preseason appearances.
He hasn’t played yet, with two of four games in the can. Based on Friday’s comments from Jets coach Adam Gase, don’t expect to see Bell until Week One of the regular season.
“I just liked his week of practice,” Gase said regarding the decision to keep Bell out of Thursday’s game against the Falcons, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “He got a ton of reps this week. We’ll kind of see how next week goes. He’s played a lot of football. And I like where he’s at right now. I love how he’s working. If I feel like there’s a need to play him next week, we will. If he has a good week of practice and it’s not worth it for us to get him out there, then we won’t.”
It’s a delicate balance, getting Bell ready on one hand and protecting him from undue risk of injury on the other. If he doesn’t need preseason reps to be ready for the games that count, why chance it?
And it appears Bell doesn’t need them. By all accounts, he’s performing at practice as the same guy he always was, with vision, explosion, burst, and speed. Throw in a budding franchise quarterback in Sam Darnold and an underrated defense, and the Jets may have new prospects to match their new uniforms.