One byproduct of Le'Veon Bell's fresh start in Kansas City is the chance for the running back to face the New York Jets just weeks later.
Sunday in Kansas City, the Chiefs host Bell's former New York Jets teammates and coach Adam Gase, with whom the running back rarely saw eye to eye during his 17 games played with Gang Green. New York cut Bell on Oct. 14.
Gase said Wednesday he's focusing on earning a win -- the Jets' first of the season -- not facing Bell. The embattled coach believes the veteran RB has the same mindset.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that he's going to be worried about just winning a game, period," Gase said, via ESPN. "That's what most players are worried about. They're worried about, 'Hey, what do I have to do this week to help my team win?' So, I'm sure that's what he's going to be worried about doing. We've got a lot of guys to worry about on that side of the ball against them."
Fortunately for Bell -- and unfortunately for Gase -- any residual motivation left from how his tenure in New York went would play hand-in-hand with the Chiefs beating the brakes off the Jets.
The 28-year-old RB is on a mission the rest of the year to show that Gase used him incorrectly in New York, and his struggles were more of a byproduct of a poor offensive line than a player on the downslope of his career.
In his first game with K.C., Bell began proving his point. His first carry as a member of the Chiefs was a 16-yard gain, and two of Bell's six carries were 16-yarders. Just once in 264 rushing attempts with the Jets did Bell rush for more than 15 yards.
In Week 7, Bell had six carries for 39 rush yds. It marked his highest rush yards per carry average (6.5) in a game since Week 4, 2016 with the Steelers -- coincidentally versus the Chiefs.
Bell averaged just 80.2 scrimmage yards per game in his Jets tenure after earning 129.0 scrimmage YPG from 2013-2017 with the Steelers. He had 18 career games with 100-plus rush yards with Pittsburgh. He earned zero with New York.
Bell might never get the volume in Kansas City to put up overwhelming stats while splitting carries with Clyde Edwards-Helaire, but he's already taking advantage of a friendly Chiefs offense.
Bell played 17 snaps in Week 7 -- a game which turned into a blowout in Denver -- with all six of his rushing attempts coming against light boxes (less than seven defenders). In New York, only 44.3 percent of his attempts were into light boxes.
Andy Reid won't force his offense to run through Bell in a revenge game, but the coach always knows the score. Don't be surprised if Bell gets a couple more looks this week -- particularly in the screen game -- against his former team.
