The Jets have been thin at running back all summer and made a move on Sunday to shore up the position.
The team announced that they have signed former Bear Khalil Bell to bolster the tailback spot. The Jets played their preseason opener on Friday night without Chris Ivory, Mike Goodson and Joe McKnight, leaving Bilal Powell pretty much alone among players expected to actually make the team this year. Things got even more dire at the position when John Griffin fractured his leg against the Lions.
Bell played three games with the Jets last year in between stints with the Bears, who he joined as an undrafted free agent in 2009. Bell caught one pass for two yards during that stay with the Jets and rushed 148 times for 633 yards during his time in Chicago.
Elsewhere on the running back depth chart, Ivory returned to individual drills on Sunday as he continues to recover from the hamstring injury that’s kept him as an observer during camp. McKnight, who has a head injury, also returned to practice although Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports that he had little to offer about his physical condition or his legal troubles when he spoke to reporters after practice.