Le’Veon Bell gives New York Jets fans a glimpse into Adam Gase’s unimaginative playbook
Every New York Jets fan who watched the team from 2019 to 2020 – regardless of their football acumen – could plainly see that Adam Gase was running a vanilla offense that lacked creativity.
Now, former Jets running back Le’Veon Bell has confirmed what everyone already knew.
Through a tweet in response to a critical fan, Bell gave Jets fans a peek into the shocking blandness of Gase’s Jets playbook.
I was a better player … it’s just hard to get off when Adam Gase is your coach calling dives on 1st & 10 … he had dives in his first 10 plays https://t.co/xzhmz9tzyj
— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) January 5, 2023
“I was a better player [in 2019] … it’s just hard to get off when Adam Gase is your coach calling dives on 1st & 10 … he had dives in his first 10 plays”, Bell tweeted.
Essentially, Bell is saying that Gase would include basic first-down handoffs up the middle within the Jets’ first 10 offensive plays of the game, which is usually considered the “scripted” portion of a team’s gameplan.
It took me no more than a minute to go back and find an example of the exact scenario Bell is describing. Here is a clip of the Jets giving Bell a handoff up the middle on their first play against the Patriots in Week 7 of the 2019 season. Gase, being the innovator he is, even had backup center Jonotthan Harrison line up as the fullback and lead the way.
The scripted game-opening play worked like a charm. Bell gained 2 yards to get the Jets’ first drive off to a scintillating start.
Bell also revealed some details about his contract negotiations when he was a free agent in 2019. He says the Jets guaranteed him $35 million while the Steelers’ offer only included $17 million in guaranteed money.
Jets guaranteed 35 million, and the Steelers guaranteed 17 million… so did I take less bread tho “champ”? it’s understandable tho, you and ppl like you don’t understand how the steelers do contracts … so y’all REALLY think I took less money which is kinda sad honestly https://t.co/AdZrxVOUiH
— Le'Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) January 5, 2023
Bell last played for the Buccaneers in the 2021-22 playoffs. While he is yet to officially retire from the NFL, Bell sat out of football in 2022 to pursue a boxing career.
