Le’Veon Bell simply couldn’t control himself. | general | Forum

FLORHAM PARK http://www.tampabaybuccaneerst…..gay-jersey , N.J. (AP) —Well, mostly his mouth.The New York Jets running back was back on a practice field for the first time in 17 months and was downright giddy. And, he let his new teammates on defense know all about it.“It was amazing,” a grinning Bell said Tuesday after the Jets began their three-day minicamp. “Just running around and just being able to trash talk and catch some balls and just sweat in your helmet — you know, things that we kind of take for granted when you’re playing.“The fact I had that whole year off and came out here and played football again, it felt so good.”Bell, who sat out voluntary workouts this offseason, was limited in his first full practice with the Jets. But, he was plenty involved with ratcheting up the overall energy on the field — talking smack with defensive players throughout.“You’ve got a loudmouth on defense,” a smiling left tackle Kelvin Beachum said, referring to always-chatty safety Jamal Adams. “And, now, we’ve got a loudmouth on offense.“It’ll be fun.”Bell signed a four-year, $52.5 million deal — including $35 million guaranteed — with the Jets in March after sitting out all last season with Pittsburgh in a contract dispute.The 27-year-old running back has been around his teammates sporadically throughout the offseason, but chose to work out on his own with a personal trainer in Florida rather than participate in the team’s voluntary workouts.So http://www.tennesseetitansteam…..own-jersey , his arrival Tuesday made for a playoff-sized gathering of media finally getting a glimpse of Bell in uniform and taking handoffs from Sam Darnold.“When he’s out there, when he’s in the huddle, a defensive coordinator doesn’t know where he’s going to line up, doesn’t know what’s coming his way,” Darnold said. “With Le’Veon out there, we definitely become a little bit more unpredictable.”Bell has rushed for 5,336 yards and 35 touchdowns, and has 312 catches for 2,660 yards and seven scores in his NFL career. Using a deliberate running style that throws off defenders, his 128.9 yards from scrimmage per game over his career is the best mark in the NFL since the 1970 merger.But, after missing a full season, there are some who wonder if Bell will still be the same versatile and dynamic force he had been as one of the best running backs in the league.“Maybe people forget a little bit just because they haven’t seen it in a long time,” he said. “It’s normal. That’s what humans do. But I feel like once I go out here, I play, first game coming up http://www.tennesseetitansteam…..ker-jersey , people will be reminded.“Right now is not the time.”Coach Adam Gase said the Jets will be “smart” with Bell during minicamp, limiting his carries and physical activity while he works himself into football shape and gets comfortable in the offense.“A lot of people are expecting a lot from me, and I’m expecting a lot from myself,” Bell said. “So, I don’t want to let nobody down. I want to go out there and be the best me. That’s why I was training one-on-one with my trainer, getting to where I need to get to make sure I’m in shape when I come here I can take every snap — if they ask me to.”There were recent reports that Gase was not in favor of the Jets signing Bell at the price he ended up costing. But the coach said above all else, he’s excited about having a running back of Bell’s caliber. Bell says the two have a “great” relationship and cleared the air.There’s also the hope that perhaps the Jets could even get him to perform at a level higher than his best days with Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers.“As a coaching staff, you’re always going to think that,” Gase said. “As a player, I know that in his mind, he thinks there’s more he can do.”Despite Bell not being at the facility during the offseason, he and Gase remained in constant contact — with the running back routinely texting the coach videos of his workouts. Bell has also chatted often with teammates, including Darnold and fellow running back Ty Montgomery, to get a better feel for the playbook.Bell still feels rusty, and that’s understandable after such a long layoff. He has no doubts Taylor Rapp Jersey , however, that he’ll be at full speed when he needs to be.He thinks he’ll get more opportunities in Gase’s offense, which is saying a lot since he had a whopping 406 touches during the 2017 season. Bell also is excited by what he has seen from Darnold, whose progress in his second year will be directly tied to how he and his star running back click.“I think Sam’s going to make me a better player because of the fact he’s so mobile and he’s going to create opportunities for me that I wouldn’t usually have,” Bell said. “And I think the same thing for me: I’m going to make opportunities for him that he’s never had, really, before.“So we’re going to kind of bounce off each other and I think we’re going to be a special duo in the backfield.” METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Saints coach Sean Payton spent the first part of Monday urging players and his own coaching staff to acknowledge everything they did wrong heading into a surprising season-opening loss to Tampa Bay.“Today’s a tough day in our league, obviously, after a loss like that,” Payton said. “It wasn’t a good tape. It was not a good film.“The first thing I said this morning was: ‘It is oftentimes said that these early weeks of the season, your team can improve a lot.’ I believe that to be true,” Payton recounted.“Now, if that is to happen, then today has to be a day where we’re willing to shoulder and not deflect (criticism). That is me as the head coach and everyone in that room. What I mean by that — shoulder — is accept Shareef Miller Jersey , ‘Hey, I have to do this better. I have to find a way to improve this rather than try to deflect.'”While Payton wanted his team focused primarily on addressing what went wrong in Sunday’s 48-40 loss , a lot had to go right — namely on offense — in order for the Saints to score as many points as they did.It was apparent that at 39 years old, Drew Brees remains effective enough to pass for 439 yards and lead the offense on five touchdown drives. Receiver Michael Thomas set a team record with 16 receptions. He also had 180 yards receiving and scored a touchdown.Alvin Kamara picked up where he left off as Offensive Rookie of the Year last season, scoring three times to go with more than 100 yards receiving. Even 37-year-old tight end Ben Watson looked effective in his first game as a Saint in three years, catching four passes for 44 yards.But Watson said that on good teams, every unit feels as if it came up short after a loss, so the offense was not praising itself. He said he would expect the defense would do the same in a low-scoring loss.“We should have scored 49 — and a good team looks at it that way,” Watson said, alluding to the fact New Orleans could have indeed scored more if not for two lost fumbles — one of which was returned for a touchdown — and three drives than ended with punts.Tampa Bay, by contrast, did not turn the ball over and punted only once.“It’s about looking in the mirror and being willing to acknowledge what we see,” Watson said. “Football is a game played by humans. There’s going to be mistakes made. … How do we return from those?”Veteran linebacker Demario Davis, who made his Saints debut on Sunday, said his defensive teammates should understand how urgent it is that they understand exactly what went wrong and how to correct it — fast. The Saints gave up more than 500 yards and three TDs longer than 35 yards.“When you give up 48 points you didn’t do nothing right — technique Germaine Pratt Jersey , assignment, alignment, eyes, discipline. It just wasn’t a good performance,” Davis said. “It wasn’t good enough and we’ve got to get it fixed.”Heading into the season, the schedule appeared to allow a fast start for New Orleans, which has Super Bowl aspirations after nearly advancing to the NFC title game last season.There was Sunday’s opener at home against a Buccaneers squad coming off a five-win campaign and with its starting quarterback suspended, followed by another home game against Cleveland, which did not win a game last season.Cleveland hasn’t won a game yet this season, either. But the Browns’ tie with Pittsburgh on Sunday left them better off than New Orleans, and also provided evidence that Cleveland may have improved considerably.“This is going to be an important game for us,” Davis said.Added defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins: “We’ve just got to go out and play to win, regardless of whether it’s the ’85 Chicago Bears or the 0-16 Cleveland Browns from last year, or whatever.”