Adam Gase wouldn’t touch the trade deadline drama, instead focusing on the sad state of his 1-6 Jets and the need to find a way to avoid a rock bottom moment Sunday against the tanking Dolphins.
That included getting into one of the reasons his team fell short against the Jaguars – the inability to get Le’Veon Bell the ball. Gase pointed the finger at himself.
“That was disappointing last week. I wanted to get him the ball more,” Gase said Wednesday before practice. “He just [had] nowhere to go. There were some passing game stuff, we were trying to get him the ball. The ball just went other places.”
Bell had just 12 touches, nine carries for 23 yards and three catches for 12 yards. The nine rushes were by far his season low.
“We just have to make sure that he has touches. Last week was bad. That was on me,” Gase said. “I just kept seeing every time he ran the ball, there were two or three guys that were waiting for him. We just got to make sure we got guys covered, we do a good job of creating some kind of hole for him to go through and he can get to the next level. We at least got to get him to the linebackers where he’s clean.”
Bell was involved in trade rumors Tuesday, but wound up staying put. After the deadline passed, he released a video on social media in which he stressed patience and said, “I’m happy as hell to be a New York Jet.”
“That’s what he’s like during a game. Any time he goes by me, he says, ‘Hey, stick with it, we’re good,'” Gase said. “The positive attitude he has throughout a game is awesome. It’s never, ‘Hey, I need this or that.’ It’s, ‘Hey, call the play you called earlier, it was open. We just got to protect it.’ Or, ‘Go to this run, they’re doing, this, this and this.’ He sees the game extremely well. It’s been impressive to kind of witness it.”
There wasn’t a lot of positive injury news for the Jets. Cornerback Trumaine Johnson (ankles) and center Ryan Kalil (knee/elbow) aren’t going to practice. Linebacker Neville Hewitt (stinger) and tight end Chris Herndon (hamstring) will both be limited in practice, but it’s uncertain if they’ll be able to play. Gase was hopeful left tackle Kelvin Beachum (ankle) could return, though Beachum was only going to be working to the side on Wednesday with trainers.
The Jets placed linebacker Albert McClellan (concussion) on injured reserve. They added linebacker BJ Bellow and defensive back Arthur Maulet to the active roster and signed offensive lineman Leo Koloamatangi to the practice squad.
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