Jets' Adam Gase Says He's Focused on Beating Chiefs, Not Le'Veon Bell, in Week 8

New York Jets head coach Adam Gase downplayed a matchup against Le'Veon Bell, who was released by the Jets in mid-October, ahead of the team's Week 8 clash with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Bell, who made his Chiefs debut against the Denver Broncos last week, and Gase never saw eye-to-eye about his usage during his time in New York. The Jets coach said he's not concerned about the "revenge game" narrative, though.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that he's going to be worried about just winning a game, period," he told reporters. "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."

Bell hasn't talked much about his departure from the Jets after 17 mostly forgettable games.

"There's not too much I can say as to why it didn't work out in New York," he said last week. "It just didn't work out."

Going from New York, the front-runner for the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft thanks to an 0-7 record, to Kansas City, the reigning Super Bowl champions, is quite the change, though.

Bell played a limited role in his first game with the Chiefs, but he made the most of his touches with 39 yards on six carries (6.5 YPC) in a 43-16 blowout of the Denver Broncos.

The 28-year-old three-time Pro Bowler will probably end up in a pretty even timeshare with standout rookie Clyde Edwards-Helaire once he gets up to full speed in the K.C. offense.

Like Gase, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid doesn't believe Bell will be overly focused on revenge against the Jets once the game gets underway.

"I think once the whistle blows and it's time to start, I think you kind of put that in the back of your mind if that was kind of your plan," Reid told reporters. "You're just playing and you're playing to the best of your ability, and that's what you end up doing."

Posting big numbers against a winless Jets squad that allows 125.6 rushing yards per game wouldn't be a major accomplishment anyway.

The bigger key for Bell is using the second half of the regular season to show he can still be a high-end offensive playmaker like he was across five seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That could allow him to enter the playoffs atop the Chiefs' running back depth chart.