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Le’Veon Bell New Jersey

New York Jets running back Le’Veon Bell says he and Adam Gase are texting buddies and BFFs — even though he knows his coach reportedly didn’t want him on the team.

Bell, in his first face-to-face session with reporters since signing a four-year, $52 million contract in March, insisted Tuesday that recent reports regarding Gase’s negative feelings about the signing of Bell as a free agent haven’t damaged their rapport.

“This is a business,” said Bell, who reported to the team and participated in its first minicamp practice after skipping the voluntary portion of the offseason. “Even if the report was true, obviously he doesn’t feel like I’m not a great player.

“Maybe he just feels like, ‘Dang, maybe we could’ve got more great players.’ I don’t know. What I’m saying is, me and him, our relationship is great.”

It was widely reported last month, when general manager Mike Maccagnan was fired, that Gase wasn’t a proponent of signing Bell. The main issue, sources said, was the price tag — $13 million per year, second only to Todd Gurley among running backs.

The Gase-Maccagnan disagreement over Bell is one of the factors that led to Maccagnan’s ouster, sources said.

Bell, who spent the past few months working with a personal trainer in South Florida, said he and Gase have communicated throughout the offseason. Bell sends him video of his workouts, and Gase sends Bell cut-ups of the Jets’ practices.

“There have been false reports about me, so I don’t really buy into reports,” Bell said. “I talk to him. He tells me what’s going on. The communication is there, that’s all that matters.”

Bell was in a giddy mood after his first football practice since January 2018, when he played his last game for the Pittsburgh Steelers. After a 17-month layoff, he looked rusty and tentative in the mandatory practice. He took only seven reps — four in the 11-on-11 period, three in 7-on-7 drills. He carried the ball three times and was targeted once — a pass that went off his fingertips.

He acknowledged the obvious, saying he’s behind the rest of his teammates. Bell didn’t care; he was just happy to be in a team setting again.

“This felt so good, not doing it for a year and things like that,” said Bell, who sat out last season in a contract dispute with the Steelers. “I’m excited.

“It was amazing, just running around and being able to trash-talk and catch some balls and just sweat in your helmet and things we take for granted when you’re playing. To have that whole year off, and to come out here and play football again, it felt so good.”

Bell was mostly an observer, standing off to the side with the quarterbacks so he could hear the playcall when it was sent in. He raised the energy level at practice, according to some players. He also raised the decibel level with his trash-talking.

“We got a loudmouth on defense [Jamal Adams] and now we got a loudmouth on offense,” said tackle Kelvin Beachum, who played with Bell in Pittsburgh.

Gase, who has big plans for Bell in his offense, said they won’t give him a heavy workload this week. He, too, said his relationship with Bell is solid, adding that they will rely on two-way communication to figure out the best ways to use him.

Bell actually believes he could be more productive in New York than Pittsburgh, which will be difficult. He amassed nearly 8,000 yards from scrimmage in five seasons, with a career-high 406 touches for 1,946 yards in 2017.

He said Gase’s system will provide “a lot of opportunities I’ve never really had before.”

Bell also spoke highly of second-year quarterback Sam Darnold.

“Sam is going to make me a better player, just because of the fact that he’s so mobile,” said Bell, who spent the first five years of his career playing with future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger. “He’s going to create opportunities I wouldn’t usually have. Same thing for me. I’m going to make opportunities for him that he’s never had before, too. We’ll bounce off each other. We’ll be a special duo in the backfield.”

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Telvin Smith Jaguars Jersey

Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith announced on social media that he will not play football in 2019 but left open the possibility of a return in 2020 and beyond.

Smith posted a statement Thursday afternoon on his Instagram account saying that he needs to take time off for his family and his health.

Smith did not notify the Jaguars about his intention to not play this season before his announcement on Instagram and had not been in contact with the club for much of the offseason. He has not been attending the Jaguars’ voluntary offseason conditioning program, which began in April, and coach Doug Marrone and GM Dave Caldwell had not been able to get in contact with Smith.

“We will not have a comment about Telvin Smith’s statement at this time,” the Jaguars said in a statement Thursday. “We need to have a conversation with Telvin to understand the situation and the circumstances. If there is a way we can support him, we need to understand that.”

Smith was due to make $9.75 million this season and would have counted $12.56 million against the salary cap. The Jaguars can place Smith on the did not report list and only the pro-rated amount of his signing bonus ($2.81 million) would count against the cap in 2019.

Smith agreed to restructure his contract last March to help the Jaguars’ cap situation and had $8 million of a roster bonus converted to a signing bonus, which allowed the team to spread that money out over the final three years of his deal.

Smith is under contract through the 2021 season and was scheduled to make $10 million in 2020 and $10.25 million in 2021.

The Jaguars drafted Smith in the fifth round of the 2014 draft. A positive marijuana test at the NFL combine contributed to him dropping and, per league rules, also landed him in the NFL’s substance abuse program. However, he missed only four games — all because of injuries — in his five seasons.

Per ESPN Stats & Information, Smith has had more solo tackles (441) than any player since he entered the NFL, and his 581 total tackles ranks fourth over that span. Smith also has nine interceptions (three of which he returned for touchdowns) in his career.

Smith, who had a career-high 134 tackles last season, was a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro in 2017 as a key part of a Jaguars defense that finished second in the NFL in sacks and turnovers forced and led the league in pass defense. The Jaguars scored seven defensive touchdowns that season, and Smith had two, as well as another in the postseason.

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Richie Incognito Jersey

Former NFL offensive lineman Richie Incognito pleaded guilty last week in Scottsdale, Arizona, to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge stemming from an arrest in August.

Court records showed that charges of making threats and defacing property were dismissed.

Incognito, 35, had been arrested after allegedly threatening employees at a funeral home where his father’s body was being held. According to a police report, Incognito made his hand into the shape of a gun and told one of the employees he had a “truck full of guns” in the parking lot.

It was the second time Incognito was in police custody after being released from the Buffalo Bills’ retired list last May. Two days after the transaction, Incognito was taken by police in Boca Raton, Florida, for an involuntary psychiatric commitment after a disturbance at a gym.

Incognito has not played since the 2017 season, after which he accepted a pay cut from the Bills before firing his agent on Twitter and later announcing his retirement.

Appearing on a podcast hosted by former Bills teammate Eric Wood earlier this year, Incognito said he is finishing his degree in communications and sociology at Arizona State University but wants to make a comeback to the NFL.

“I’m in excellent shape,” he said. “I still have a lot of tread on the tires. I really think that I can compete at a high level. I still have a passion for the game. … I feel like I have a few seasons left, so I’m gonna explore that possibility.”

Incognito played for Buffalo from 2015 to 2017, appearing in the Pro Bowl each season. The controversial guard was at the center of a 2013 investigation into the bullying of former Miami Dolphins teammate Jonathan Martin, which led to a suspension and Incognito not playing during the 2014 season.

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Landon Collins Giants Jersey

NFL free agency is a little more than a week away, which means it’s time for teams to tell a handful of disappointed players that they won’t be free agents after all. Yes, Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET was the deadline for teams to designate franchise players for 2019.

Quick refresher: A team can select one of its own prospective free-agent players per year as its franchise player. Doing so locks that player onto the roster for one year at a fully guaranteed salary roughly equal to the average of the top five salaries at his position or 120 percent of his previous year’s salary, whichever is higher. There’s more to it, but those are the basics in case you’re new here and just clicking on stories by writers you consider especially handsome and intelligent.

This year, six teams used the franchise tag to hold top players off the open market:

  • Robbie Gould, K, San Francisco 49ers
  • DeMarcus Lawrence, DE, Dallas Cowboys (for the second year in a row)
  • Frank Clark, DE, Seattle Seahawks
  • Grady Jarrett, DT, Atlanta Falcons
  • Jadeveon Clowney, OLB, Houston Texans
  • Dee Ford, OLB, Kansas City Chiefs

Those teams have until July 15 to work out long-term deals with those players, or else they can’t negotiate with them again until after the 2019 season. Some of those tagged could get long-term deals. (Technically, all of them could.) Some likely won’t. But the franchise-tag deadline is always a useful marker on the NFL’s offseason calendar, and it’s worth taking a look at who came out ahead and who came out disappointed.

WINNERS

Landon Collins

Collins let it be known last month that he’d cleaned out his locker at the New York Giants’ team facility. This was the safety’s version of a not-uncommon ploy by a player with little to no leverage who doesn’t want to be franchised:

Hey, front office. Franchise me if you want, but I promise I’m going to be difficult about it.

This doesn’t work on most teams, but the Giants aren’t most teams, and lo and behold they gave Collins what he wanted. They elected not to use the $11.15 million tag on Collins, who now will be a free agent when the new league year opens next week. At age 25, with a strong reputation as a hard worker and locker room leader plus three Pro Bowl appearances and one first-team All-Pro selection under his belt, he should have a deep market of interested teams and end up with more than he’d have made on the tag.

Trey Flowers

It’s not just that the New England Patriots elected not to use the franchise tag on Flowers, it’s that Lawrence, Clark, Clowney and Ford all did get franchised, leaving the unfranchised Flowers as the top free-agent defensive end on the market.

Even in a year in which the draft is loaded with defensive-line prospects, players who can disrupt things at the line of scrimmage and get after the quarterback are in demand, and Flowers should do well. He turns 26 in August, plays every position on the defensive line and has won the Super Bowl twice. Don’t be surprised to see him get a deal worth more than $16 million per year.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Philadelphia Eagles’ decision not to franchise quarterback Nick Foles landed the former Super Bowl MVP in the Jaguars’ laps. Once the free-agent market opens next week, the Jags are expected to sign Foles to a multiyear contract and make him their starter.

One reason it appears he’ll end up with Jacksonville is that there weren’t that many other potential landing spots. Once the Eagles decided to set him free, the Jags were in an outstanding position to land the top available quarterback on the market without having to win a bidding war with a bunch of other teams to do so.

DeMarcus Lawrence

Yeah, he got tagged for the second year in a row and I doubt he’s happy about it, but I have him in this section for two reasons. First, because he’s being tagged for the second year in a row, Lawrence’s salary will be $20.5716 million, much higher than this year’s $17.128 million tag for defensive ends. And second, think about the big picture here.

Even if the Cowboys don’t sign Lawrence to a long-term deal (which they have said they very much want to and are optimistic that they will), no one’s sitting prettier than he is this time next year. A second year playing on the tag would mean he’d have made a total of $37.7146 million over two seasons (2018-19), fully guaranteed, and tagging him a third time in 2020 would cost the Cowboys nearly $25 million.

Assuming Lawrence stays healthy, he’d be the defensive-end version of Kirk Cousins. I also still think he, Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper end up with top-of-the-market extensions from the Cowboys in the next couple of months.

Jameis Winston

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t franchise left tackle Donovan Smith because they didn’t have to. Smith and the Bucs were able to agree on a three-year, $41.5 million contract extension before the franchise deadline hit.

So not only does Winston, the Bucs’ quarterback, have his left tackle back for this season, he’s got Smith back and happy. We don’t know what will become of Winston as he embarks up on the final year of his contract, but if he’s to live up to his top-draft-pick status and his potential, he’ll need his protection to be as good as it can be. Smith might not be the greatest left tackle in the league, but he’s a lot better than what would have been available to the Bucs if they’d had to replace him.

LOSERS

New York Giants

This is the flip side of the earlier Collins blurb. Even for an organization that keeps stacking bad decisions on bad decisions (and losing seasons on losing seasons), the decision to let Collins leave over $11.15 million — the franchise number for safeties this year — and without getting anything in return except maybe a 2020 compensatory pick is baffling.

I have heard the Giants’ reasoning, and you’ll read and hear plenty of their spin in the coming weeks and months. He’s not great in one-on-one pass coverage, general manager Dave Gettleman believes in spending on the lines and not the secondary, they were worried he’d hold out of camp and make a stink, blah, blah, blah. None of it trumps the Ernie Accorsi mantra to which Gettleman selectively claims to adhere: “You don’t quit on talent.” I’ll expand that to, “You don’t quit on talented 25-year-old playmakers who are locker room leaders and fan favorites.”

The Giants were 24th in total defense last season and just let their best defensive player walk out of the building without even a whiff of an effort to keep him. If they’re rebuilding, they’re doing it a year too late (and should have traded him for something last October). And even if they’re rebuilding, Collins is the kind of player they can build around. But hey, you don’t miss the playoffs six out of the past seven seasons by making great offseason decisions, do you?

Jadeveon Clowney

Based on the conversations I’ve had with people in the league, I believe Clowney is the least likely of the franchised pass-rushers to sign a long-term deal this offseason. The Texans might view him as a one-year rental at this point, and the franchise-tag system isn’t being fair to him, either.

Because the Texans run a 3-4 defense, Clowney technically lines up more often as an outside linebacker than an on-the-line defensive end. The franchise number for linebackers is $15.443 million, whereas it’s $17.128 million for defensive ends. Clowney gets a little bit of a break because the Texans gave him a $1 million raise last year over his fifth-year option price, so his franchise tag is $15.9672 million — 120 percent of last year’s salary. But it’s still not commensurate with the job he actually does.

The NFL really does need to change the franchise-tag designations to reflect actual positions (for instance, lumping 3-4 outside linebackers and 4-3 defensive ends together as “edge players,” and separating the offensive linemen into tackle, guard and center categories), but that’s a discussion for another day. For today, it means Clowney’s underpaid.

Teams in need of pass-rushers

Pass-rusher has become a little bit like quarterback — teams just generally don’t let the best ones hit the market if they can help it. So if you need an edge guy and you’d been saving your free-agent bucks for Lawrence or Clark or Ford or Clowney … you’re out of luck.

Only one team is going to get Flowers, and after him you’re into Dante Fowler Jr./Ezekiel Ansah territory. Do you feel lucky? Well, you kind of are, because it so happens that this year’s draft class is loaded with a couple of dozen genetically engineered Autobots and Decepticons who play all over the defensive line. But if you were hoping to find pass rush in free agency, you’re not thrilled about what happened at the franchise deadline.

Teddy Bridgewater

Foles’ likely signing in Jacksonville, coupled with the Broncos’ soon-to-be-official trade for Joe Flacco, takes away the two most obvious landing spots for a quarterback looking for a chance to start. Could Miami or Washington sign Bridgewater and give him a shot as a starter? Possible, sure, but the pool is drying up, and it might be that Teddy B has to go back to New Orleans and back up Drew Brees for at least one more year before finally getting his second chance to lead a team.

As we wrote a couple of weeks ago, it’s a buyer’s market this year at quarterback. Bridgewater, Ryan Tannehill, Blake Bortles, Tyrod Taylor … they’re all likely headed for backup jobs.

New England Patriots … kinda

The Patriots had three players they legitimately could have franchised: Flowers, tackle Trent Brown and kicker Stephen Gostkowski. They franchised no one, which isn’t unusual for a team that doesn’t like to pay top dollar for guys often, but that still could put them in a position to have to replace a couple of key players.

I get Brown since he wasn’t a starting left tackle before 2018 and now likely wants to get paid like one. Gostkowski … playing it fast and loose at kicker is a little weird for a team that has employed only two of them in the past 23 years, but maybe the Patriots know they’ll get him signed. (Or maybe they have someone else lined up for the next decade-plus.)

As for Flowers, you’re right if you’re sitting there claiming double standard when I ripped the Giants for letting 25-year-old Collins walk but not the Pats for letting 25-year-old Flowers out the door. You’re right. But the fact that the Patriots have won 100 games to the Giants’ 47 since the last time Eli Manning beat Tom Brady in the Super Bowl gives them the benefit of the doubt.

They’re in this “losers” section because they might end up “losing” three key players who were tag candidates. But the “kinda” is a nod to the fact that you can always trust this team to figure it out.

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Michael Thomas Jersey

Not only did Sean Payton stand by his decision to go for a touchdown in the final two minutes of the New Orleans Saints’ season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Rams instead of running down the clock and settling for a field goal, he said Wednesday that it was “not debatable.”

You might have missed it in the wake of the infamous “no-call.” But Payton’s playcalling in the final minutes of regulation was probably the second-most hotly debated topic in the wake of the Saints’ 26-23 overtime loss to the Rams in the NFC Championship Game.

The game was tied at 20 with 1 minute, 58 seconds remaining. The Saints had first-and-10 on the Rams’ 13-yard line. And the Rams had two timeouts left.

If the Saints had called three straight run plays, then kicked a field goal to go ahead 23-20, the Rams would have had almost exactly one minute left with no timeouts.

Instead, the Saints threw incomplete on first down (a rare miss from Drew Brees on a quick slant to receiver Michael Thomas). They ran on second down. Then they threw incomplete on third down to receiver Tommylee Lewis when the officials missed the pass interference and helmet-to-helmet penalties against Rams defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman.

So the Saints wound up settling for the field goal anyway, and the Rams had 1:41 remaining, with one timeout — which allowed them to send the game into overtime with a field goal of their own.

“Look, we knew that there were a few options. Three straight runs obviously brings it down to about 58 seconds and we’re ahead three,” Payton said Wednesday, when he met with the media for the first time since the night of the game. “Obviously time’s important, but they had two timeouts at the time.

“Philosophically I didn’t feel comfortable with … three straight runs, kick a field goal, they come back and tie. And then [the questions would be], ‘Why didn’t you…?”

Payton had plenty of time to think through his decision during the two-minute warning. And he pointed out that NFL Films captured him telling Brees on the sideline that he wanted to try to score a TD in that situation.

“We gotta be smart here,” Brees said while they were “mic’d up” on the sideline.

“Yeah. But I don’t want to take 55 seconds and just kick a field goal,” Payton replied. “So we’re gonna be smart, but we’re gonna try to score a touchdown.”

“Absolutely. Absolutely,” Brees replied.

If you look at the first-down playcall, the Saints did play it smart.

The play was actually a run call, with a designed audible if the Rams’ defense stuffed the box with eight or nine defenders (which they did). The audible was the quick slant to Thomas — a high-percentage play that worked 12 out of 13 times in the regular season on slant passes traveling 5 or fewer yards in the air, according to research cited by the New Orleans Advocate’s Nick Underhill.

In fact, it looked like Thomas might have been able to score on the play since the defense was so loaded to stop the run. It was pretty stunning Brees threw the ball low and missed his sure-handed receiver.

“The look was clean. It was a little tough navigating the pass rush,” Payton said of why the first-down throw didn’t work.

The third-down playcall was less of a sure thing. But Lewis did break open out of a jet-sweep motion — which led to Robey-Coleman sprinting over to cover him and admitting he basically intentionally fouled him to prevent a touchdown.

As anyone who follows me on social media knows, I have no problem with the Saints’ playcalling in that situation and would have been stunned to see Payton go conservative in that situation because of how much time was left.

Payton is a known gambler who once started the second half of a Super Bowl with a surprise onside kick and faked a punt against the Philadelphia Eagles earlier in these playoffs.

It would have been a “gamble” to leave the Rams with a full minute to march down the field and kick a field goal — even with no timeouts. Especially considering they have one of the NFL’s best kickers in Greg Zuerlein, who eventually won the game with a 57-yard field goal in overtime.

As it was, the Rams got down to the Saints’ 33 in just 56 seconds before using a timeout. (I know, the playcalling and defenses might have been altered under different circumstances, but that’s still notable.) Later that night, Patrick Mahomes marched the Kansas City Chiefs into field-goal range in just 26 seconds with one timeout under similar circumstances to force overtime.

And as many Saints fans pointed out, New Orleans got burned in last year’s playoffs for getting stuffed on a third-and-1 run play and leaving the Minnesota Vikings with 25 seconds on the clock to perform the “Minneapolis Miracle.”

But all of that being said, the Saints left themselves open to criticism because they failed to execute. Not only in the final two minutes of regulation and in overtime, but earlier in the game when they settled for two first-quarter field goals in the red zone.

Payton said that was probably his biggest self-critique from the loss.

“The early field position, we had opportunities to score more points,” Payton said of a Saints team that jumped to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter — thanks in part to linebacker Demario Davis’ interception — before sputtering a bit.

And, really, the offense had been sputtering too much over the final seven games of the season, dating to the Week 13 loss at Dallas on a Thursday night.

The Saints led the NFL with an eye-popping 37.2 points per game over the first 12 weeks of the season and ranked fifth in the league with 416.6 yards per game.

Over their final six games (not counting when they benched their starters in Week 17), they averaged just 20.7 points and 316.7 yards per game.

Brees went from 29 TD passes and two interceptions over his first 11 games to seven TD passes and five interceptions over his final six games.

“We played some pretty good defenses, and yet I think it’s a fair question,” Payton said when asked about the late-season offensive slump. “We had a stretch [in the middle of the season], maybe it was a little unrealistic to what we were scoring and how we were scoring and that feeling coming off games” against the Rams (scoring 45 points in Week 9) and the Cincinnati Bengals (scoring 51 Week 10).

“Philosophically, the Rams had changed a lot of what they were doing defensively to a much more zone approach,” Payton said. “But the Eagles [in the divisional round of the playoffs] — look, they were a tough defense, they were a tough out. And that’s the nature of the game. I mean, you get into the playoffs and you’re not scoring 40 points that often. So we’re constantly critiquing ourselves and trying to be better at it.”

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Shaquill Griffin Jersey

The Seattle Seahawks expect cornerback Shaquill Griffin to play Saturday despite a sprained ankle that had his status in some question for their wild-card game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Despite some long lists of players who didn’t practice this week, the Seahawks’ injury situation heading into Dallas is so clean that coach Pete Carroll volunteered the updates at his final press conference Thursday instead of waiting for reporters to inquire as he usually does.

Left guard J.R. Sweezy (foot) is questionable and fullback Tre Madden (hamstring) is doubtful, but no other names are listed on Seattle’s final injury report. Everyone other than Sweezy and Madden was listed as a full participant in Thursday’s practice.

“The rest of the guys are ready to go,” Carroll said.

Sweezy suffered a foot sprain in Week 16 against the Kansas City Chiefs. His absence and that of right guard D.J. Fluker forced Seattle to go with a reconfigured offensive line Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, but Germain Ifedi will move back to right tackle from right guard with Fluker returning from his hamstring injury.

Sweezy is the only question mark for Seattle’s offensive line. Ethan Pocic would likely start again if he’s out, but Carroll said Sweezy continues to sound confident that he’ll play.

“Sweez has got a good chance,” Carroll said. “He feels great. We’ll find out at game time if he can play too. He made it through the week and we’re feeling pretty good about that.”

Griffin turned his ankle Sunday and didn’t return. He was listed as a non-participant in practice Tuesday and Wednesday but “looked great” Thursday, Carroll said.

Madden is the lone fullback on Seattle’s roster, but his absence might be felt more on special teams, where he’s played the fourth-most snaps of any Seahawk, according to Pro Football Reference data. Madden has averaged only about six offensive snaps in his 14 games.

In addition to Fluker and possibly Sweezy, the Seahawks will get free safety Tedric Thompson back after he missed the past two games with chest and ankle injuries. His return will push Bradley McDougald back to strong safety.

Seattle put Delano Hill on injured reserve earlier this week after he made two starts in place of Thompson.

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Marquise Goodwin Jesrey

The San Francisco 49ers’ latest loss should have come as no surprise given the opponent and the location. Sunday’s 43-16 defeat was San Francisco’s ninth consecutive regular-season loss against the Seahawks and 10th straight to them overall.

And, really, since quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Week 3, the most optimistic Niners fans knew it would be difficult for a team in the second year of a major rebuilding project to contend in 2018.

For those looking for a silver lining, the 49ers’ chances of landing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft continued to increase with their latest loss. ESPN’s Football Power Index live projections now list the Niners’ chances for the top choice at 49 percent, making them the odds-on favorite for that spot, just ahead of the Oakland Raiders.

The 2-10 Niners’ pursuit of the top pick also got some help from other bottom-dwelling teams who offered surprising results Sunday afternoon.

The Arizona Cardinals won their third game by knocking off the Green Bay Packers on the road. The New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars claimed their fourth victories, knocking off the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts, respectively.

When the dust settled, only the Niners and Raiders were left with just two victories and in prime position for the top pick, a contest that figures to give new meaning to the “Battle of the Bay.”

While the Niners could certainly benefit from having the top pick — the need for a true difference-maker is undeniable — their two most recent performances have also left a more bitter taste in their mouths. In losing by a combined 45 points to the Buccaneers and Seahawks after the bye, the 49ers have looked increasingly like a team deserving of the No. 1 overall pick rather than one in contention largely because of the loss of Garoppolo.

“We’re just beat up,” cornerback Richard Sherman said. “You think about the guys we have out there, we lose our No. 1 receiver, No. 2 receiver, No. 1 quarterback, No. 2 quarterback, No. 1 running back, the thing, it just ends up adding up. You lose your starting safety, you lose your backup safety, you lose person after person, you lose two of your Will linebackers and then [Malcolm Smith is] kind of beat up. It’s just guys beat up, but guys are fighting hard and giving us the best chance.”

As Sherman points out, the 49ers have been playing shorthanded for much of the season beyond just the loss of Garoppolo. They’ve been without starting receivers Pierre Garcon and Marquise Goodwin the past couple of weeks, running back Jerick McKinnon was lost to an ACL injury before the season began and fellow back Matt Breida had been limited by a recurring ankle issue. On defense, injuries to the secondary and linebacker corps have been a factor all season.

But where injuries have created opportunities, the Niners would undoubtedly like to see more from their young players stepping into expanded roles. Receiver Dante Pettis, a 2018 second-round pick, has set an ideal example, racking up nine catches for 206 yards and three touchdowns over the past two weeks. Running back Jeff Wilson Jr. also showed up Sunday, with 134 yards from scrimmage on 23 touches, offering hope he could be a future running mate for Breida. And quarterback Nick Mullens continues to at least provide hope that he has a future as a backup, putting up 414 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns Sunday for a passer rating of 95.3.

Still, given the number of young players in prominent roles, the 49ers would like to see more in the coming weeks. This Niners team has some youngsters playing by choice and others who have been thrust into important jobs by injury. Over the season’s final four games, it’s imperative that the Niners find out not only who belongs but whether those who do can play a significant role.

And, as defensive tackle DeForest Buckner points out, that work can’t be limited to the field.

“Guys have just got to own their jobs, pay more attention, study a little more, I guess,” Buckner said. “The past two weeks we got a little lackadaisical and we have just got to go back to the drawing board. Like I said, we’ve got another opportunity next week to show up and the next couple games are home games and hopefully guys take advantage of that.”

It’s one thing to be losing close, hard-fought games with young players still learning how to win. It’s another if many of those young players are showing few signs that they can be part of the solution.

With four games left to play, there’s still time for the young Niners to develop. Given the injuries that dot the roster, there will undoubtedly be plenty of chances for that to happen. Perhaps the 49ers could even play spoiler against teams in the playoff mix like the Seahawks, Denver Broncos and Bears, or a team jockeying for home-field advantage like the Los Angeles Rams.

Coach Kyle Shanahan and veteran leaders like Sherman constantly drive home the importance of those opportunities for the present and the future.

“These are grown men, so they have to be accountable for what they do,” Sherman said.

And if they aren’t? Well, a team that has looked deserving of the top pick over the past two weeks will need a whole lot more than just to get healthy if it wants to be better in 2019.

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Le’Veon Bell Jersey Sale

Le’Veon Bell is back in Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Steelers running back played basketball at L.A. Fitness club in North Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, a manager with L.A. Fitness confirmed to ESPN.

Pictures and videos circulated online late Tuesday of Bell in the club. Pittsburgh resident John Maus, who posted a video of Bell on his Snapchat story, said the subject in his video is “110 percent Le’Veon” and his video was shot live.

Despite the video, there was no indication Wednesday that Bell had visited the team’s facility.

Bell, a member of L.A. Fitness who has spent past offseasons working out there, recently left Miami, where he’s trained while away from the Steelers. Bell has failed to sign his $14.5 million franchise tender while preserving his long-term health for a future lucrative contract.

Bell must report to the team by Tuesday — Week 11, before the Steelers’ matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars (Sunday, Nov. 18) — or he forfeits the season. He can become a free agent in 2019 if the Steelers do not place a third tag on him.

A third franchise tag would be worth more than $20 million, and though the Steelers are unlikely to utilize that tag, one option is the transition tag, which is worth 120 percent of his previous year’s salary.

If he fails to report, the transition tag would be around $14.5 million, or 120 percent of his $12.1 million franchise tag from 2017, since that’s the last year he played.

If he plays games this year, the Steelers could try to prove Bell’s transition tag should be prorated.

In Bell’s absence, James Conner has produced a total of 1,085 yards and 10 touchdowns in eight games.

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Kayvon Webster Jersey

The Houston Texans’ depth at cornerback has gotten even thinner after the team placed Kayvon Webster on injured reserve on Tuesday.

Webster, who was playing in his first game since he tore his Achilles with the Rams last December, left the Texans’ Week 5 victory over the Cowboys with a quad injury. He played just two snaps before the injury.

Houston has already placed cornerback Kevin Johnson (concussion) on injured reserve and will be without cornerback Aaron Colvin (ankle) indefinitely. The Texans relied heavily on Shareece Wright after Webster’s injury and have used safety Kareem Jackson in both roles as well.

On Monday, coach Bill O’Brien said he’d “really like to try to keep [Jackson] at safety” because of how well he has played there this season, but acknowledged using the veteran at cornerback is a possibility. Jackson played corner before making the switch to safety this offseason.

The Texans also signed safety Mike Tyson to the active roster from the practice squad and added cornerback Robert Jackson to the practice squad.

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Le’Veon Bell Jersey

Steelers players are livid over Le’Veon Bell’s extended absence, which might last months.

“He f—ed us,” one veteran told ESPN as he walked out of the locker room on Wednesday.

Barring an unforeseen development, the All-Pro running back is not expected to play Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, according to a source, and agent Adisa Bakari hinted that Bell might be willing to wait it out longer to preserve his long-term health.

Bell hasn’t signed his $14.5 million franchise tag and can become a free agent in 2019 as long as he signs it by Week 11.

“If you don’t want to be here, it is what it is. Hold out 10 weeks,” center Maurkice Pouncey said.

On Monday, Pouncey told ESPN that Bell would show up to work on Wednesday, and to “count on it.”

“I just felt confident that he was gonna come,” Pouncey said Wednesday, “But now that he didn’t, obviously it’s Le’Veon over the Steelers, and we’re the Steelers and we’re going to play as the Steelers. … Now when it’s game time and you that you have $14 million looming out there, and you’re still not here and your team really wants you here? At this point, we got [James] Conner.”

Conner will start in Bell’s place in Week 1 against the Browns.

The team hoped Bell would show up for work this week, but Bakari told NFL Live that Bell is “going to do the things necessary to protect his value long-term.”

A source told ESPN that the Steelers have no plans to rescind Bell’s tender, and league sources say a trade would be difficult to execute because of Bell’s position and teams’ unwillingness to inherit a franchise-tagged player.

General manager Kevin Colbert — who issued a statement Monday that the team was “disappointed” Bell hadn’t signed the tender — will not be made available for comment, but the Steelers issued a statement through director of communications Burt Lauten.

“We are not going to discuss any conversations through the media,” Lauten said. “If Adisa would like to talk further, he has the phone number to our offices.”

But players — especially those who block for Bell — have no issues discussing.

“In the ultimate team sport, we’ve created a league of individuals,” guard Ramon Foster said. “I know the league is all about get your money, get paid, I love it. … But at least let us know [you weren’t coming].

“Right now, we’re just dealing with the aspect of, ‘Are you going to do it for us or are you really going to wait it out?’ Because this is one of those things where we as an offensive line, as a team — Pounce urged him to come in and now nothing. There are so many guys [here] who are sacrificing everything.”

Bell touched the ball a league-high 406 times while playing on a $12.12 million franchise tag last season, and he told ESPN in January that he wouldn’t touch the ball another 400 times without a contract that matches his worth as a player.

The Steelers and Bell have failed to reach a long-term agreement in each of the past two summers. Each week Bell skips, he forfeits $852,941.

“Le’Veon has several years ahead of him in football. We know right now his days in Pittsburgh are precarious at best. We also know how he’s been utilized in the past by the Steelers organization,” Bakari told NFL Live.

“That’s nothing to say negative about the Steelers. They had one of the best players to have ever played this position and they rely on him heavily for the production he can provide, but in doing so, you take away from his future years.”

If Bell returns well into the season, Pouncey said he will tell him what’s up and ask if he’s ready.

Meanwhile, he wants Conner to excel.

“Stars are made every year, so hopefully it aligns for him,” Pouncey said.

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook made no changes to the line or total in response to the news of Bell’s no-show Wednesday. The Steelers are 3.5-point favorites at Cleveland in Week 1 (opened at -6.5) and remain 10-1 to win the Super Bowl.