An illness will keep New York Jets RB Le’Veon Bell out of Sunday afternoon’s rematch with the Miami Dolphins. He was previously listed as questionable.
New York Jets‘ running back Le’Veon Bell will miss Sunday’s tilt against the Miami Dolphins (1:00 p.m. ET, CBS) with an illness. The team made the announcement less than 24 hours prior to the showdown at MetLife Stadium.
RB Le’Veon Bell has been downgraded from questionable to out. #MIAvsNYJ https://t.co/0QOKGtLGaT
— New York Jets (@nyjets) December 7, 2019
Bell was previously listed as questionable on the team’s Friday injury report. His illness kept him out of Thursday and Friday’s practices. Head coach Adam Gase wasn’t ready to declare Bell out during his Friday press conference and did not elaborate on what kind of illness the rusher was diagnosed with.
“He’s sick, (it’s) probably the same thing that is going around a lot of these other teams,” Gase said. “(The) biggest thing was getting him checked out and then get him out of the building so nobody else gets sick.”
Illnesses have indeed been a problem across the NFL. Last week, for example, the New England Patriots missed eight players in their Thursday practice proceedings due to a flu bug going around the locker room. Nine Patriots were labeled questionable for their Sunday night game against the Houston Texans with the illness designation.
According to ESPN’s Field Yates, the Patriots chartered two planes to Houston, one to accommodate the sick players.
Bell has tallied 589 yards and three touchdowns on 183 carries in his first year with the Jets (4-8). He had 32 yards on 10 opportunities in last week’s 22-6 loss in Cincinnati. The rusher joins cornerback Brian Poole (concussion) as the only Jets officially ruled out from this weekend’s game.
New York will also likely be without safety Jamal Adams (ankle). The Jets’ sack leader missed all three days of practice this week and continues to be labeled as doubtful on the injured list. Blocker Chuma Edoga (ankle), safety Matthias Farley (rib/ankle), and cornerback Arthur Maulet (calf) are also doubtful.
With Bell out, rushing duties will fall to reserves Bilal Powell, Ty Montgomery and Josh Adams. With 125 yards on 32 carries, Powell has earned a team-best 3.9 yards-per-carry. He recently put up a season-best 42 yards on seven carries in the Jets’ 34-17 win in Washington last month.
