Broadway Joe
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Players know Organized Team Activities are voluntary, but Jets defensive tackle Steve McLendon thinks teammate Le’Veon Bell should volunteer to attend.
McLendon, who previously played with Bell in Pittsburgh, said he encouraged Bell to show up to offseason work after Bell signed.
“I talked to him and I told him, ‘You understand this place is different than Pittsburgh,’” McLendon said, via NorthJersey.com. “I said, ‘You need to get back so you can understand the quarterback and the situation.’ . . . I told him, ‘The media is gonna get you if you don’t come back.’ That’s the truth. I did tell him that.”
Bell has declined to participate in voluntary work this offseason, and despite his own preferences, McLendon thinks all will work out in the end.
“I know there’s been a lot of people saying, ‘Why is he not here? Because he was paid,’” McLendon said. “Listen, man, he’s not an All-Pro, Pro Bowl running back for no reason. Sometimes people prepare differently. Would we love him here? Yes. But when he comes here and he’s rocking and rolling and helping us get to where we want to go this season, ain’t nobody going to be thinking about it. And I know I’m not.”
If having Bell there is important, perhaps the Jets should have put substantial workout bonuses in Bell’s contract to ensure he’d show. The failure of former Jets G.M. Mike Maccagnan to do that is now someone else’s problem.