Among the questions hanging over the Jets as they get ready for the 2019 season are a pair dealing with running back Le’Veon Bell.
One is how Bell is going to fare after sitting out all of last year and the other is how often the Jets are going to give him the ball. Head coach Adam Gase said earlier this year that “you can wear a guy out with too many rushes, too many touches, too many snaps, too many practice snaps” and he said on Wednesday that Bell’s workload this summer is going to be closely monitored to ensure he doesn’t get overworked.
Bell isn’t looking to have his workload scaled down, though. He set a career-high with 406 touches in 2017 and was asked at a Thursday press conference if he could handle that amount of work as well.
“I’m up for 500 if it’s going to take us to the Super Bowl,” Bell said.
The Jets are sure to try for as much of a return on their investment as possible this year, but Gase’s comments suggest that Bell’s going to fall well short of 500 touches whether the Jets go all the way or not.