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Guard Kelechi Osemele says Jets fans shouldn't read too much into Le'Veon Bell skipping last month's voluntary minicamp.
Osemele, whom the Jets acquired in a trade with the Oakland Raiders in March, was asked about Bell's absence during an appearance on WFAN's "Boomer and Gio" show Friday morning.
"Like you said, like what you hit on, it is voluntary," Osemele said. "But from what I've seen, he's been grinding, man. He's been working. I'm not concerned with him showing up out of shape or anything like that."
Osemele did attend the minicamp, but he said he didn't have much of a choice.
"You have to, though, as a lineman, dude," he said. "It's camaraderie. It's like consistency and all that. It's different. Skill positions are a lot different than playing offensive line. You have to get that like synchronicity or whatever."
Before the Raiders, Osemele played for the Baltimore Ravens and saw a lot of Bell when he was with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The two-time Pro Bowl guard said he's thrilled to now be teammates with the three-time Pro Bowl running back.
"Hell yeah, man," Osemele said. "It's going to be good to be on the other end of that. He definitely gave us some trouble, so it'll be exciting to be blocking for him now."
Osemele was asked if it makes it more difficult to pave the way for a running back like Bell, who sets up blocks, rather than a more downhill runner.
"You're trying to kill the dude in front of you," he said. "It doesn't really matter like what the back's doing behind you. Like as long as he eventually gets going and makes yards, that's all you care about."
To listen to the interview, click on the audio player above.
