Chiefs running back Le’Veon Bell is currently looking ahead to Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup with Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, but he took some time on Tuesday to look back on his brief, eventful and contentious stint with the Jets.
During his Super Bowl media week Zoom session, Bell reflected on what went wrong in New York, and what led to him becoming yet another high-profile free agent who failed to thrive with the Jets, who released Bell earlier this season after signing him to a four-year, $52.5 million deal less than two years ago.
“It’s been an interesting season I’d say for me,” Bell said. “When I first started the season off, I was in New York and was kind of fighting an uphill battle with everything that was going on over there. It didn’t work out for whatever reason, and I ended up coming [to Kansas City], and I love it. From the first day I came over here, I loved it right away, and I feel like I fit in with the guys pretty good. Everyone embraced me…I’m just happy where I’m at and I’m happy with the way the season went.”
Bell arrived in Kansas City after the Jets, failing to find a trade partner, released the 28-year-old following frustrating tweets and disagreements on how to be used within the Jets’ offense. But Bell, now with a Chiefs franchise looking to build a dynasty, emphasizes winning over usage, and he’s seen plenty of team success since arriving on a one-year deal.
“I was just in a spot with the Jets where I was so focused on winning,” Bell said. “I didn’t really care about how my production looked or how many touchdowns I would score. I just got so frustrated after losing so many times. I had already missed three games with the Jets earlier in the season, so I was going to miss about half the games this year. I wanted to go somewhere where I was still going to save my body and not get as much of the workload, but I wanted to win games too.”
Bell signed with the Chiefs just days after being let go by the Jets, a decision he described as even more difficult than when he picked New York following the 2018-19 season.
“Those were a really tough two days for me,” Bell said. “But I made the decision to come here and play with a lot of great players and for coach Andy Reid. But it was a tough decision. It was probably tougher than my free agency decision. I made the decision to come here, and I’m happy where I’m at. I’m happy with my decision.”
Bell looked to take his out his frustrations with the Jets when New York visited Arrowhead Stadium on Nov. 1, but finished with just seven rushing yards and 31 receiving yards in a 35-9 Chiefs victory. Still, the underwhelming “revenge” performance gave Bell a different perspective on what went wrong in New York.
“When we played the Jets earlier in the season, obviously I wanted to have a big game. I wanted to go out there and it was supposed to be like a ‘revenge’ game I guess in a sense, but it didn’t end up turning out that way. But I think that kind of opened my eyes to the situation I was in,” Bell said. “There were a lot of players out there that played hard, and it’s not like they weren’t trying. The Jets played hard and I feel like they have a lot of good players over there. But together, they just weren’t playing together. I sensed that playing against them.”
The Jets were a mess with and without Bell this season, finishing the year with a 2-14 record and another head coaching casualty in Adam Gase. With another period of transition ahead for Gang Green, Bell sees a chance for his former team to finally turn a corner.
“I still talk to a lot of the guys over there,” Bell said. “A lot of guys are still in grace periods and they got a new coach, so things might change over there. I guess time will tell.”
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