The New York Jets training camp is currently taking place in Florham Park, New Jersey, and two big news stories were reported from there on Wednesday, August 21st, 2019. Apparently, superstar running back and new addition to the New York Jets this year, Le’Veon Bell, is requesting his teammates to hit him more during practice in order to prepare him for the upcoming NFL season.

Also, on Wednesday, August 21st, 2019 the National Football League announced that the New York Jets star linebacker, Brandon Copeland, has been suspended for the first four games of this upcoming and rapidly approaching NFL regular season. The suspension comes as a result of him violating the League’s performance-enhancing drugs policy.

Uncommon Request:

Last football season while still under the final remaining year of his previous contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bell decided to hold out and not play for Pittsburgh in hopes of getting a large contract extension from the Steelers. His decision was based upon either landing that new deal with the steel city or else stay off the field to ensure he hit free agency fully healthy and well rested.

It turned out Pittsburgh did not choose to resign the high octane running back coincidentally putting Bell on the free agency market where the New York Jets gave him the best contract in his as well as his agent’s opinion. Now that he has had a full year off from any full contact game action, he is asking his defensive teammates to hit him in practice to prepare him for the bone crushing nuances of a professional football season. Bell has been held out of all the Jet’s preseason games by his coaching staff to ensure he hits the field at 100% come week one of the NFL’s regular season.

Statements Directed to his Team:

“Give me a little something,” says New York Jets running back, Bell.

“Go for the ball, things like that, just so I can get prepared,” he added.

“I know once I get to the game it’s going to be a little different, but that’s something I’ll adjust to,” he explained. “I’ve been playing football my whole life.”

“I try to do that intentionally, just so I can feel it. A lot of times you’ll start seeing guys get a little frustrated and they’ll try to hit me back — and that’s what I need. They won’t take me to the ground and they won’t go for my legs. Hitting me up top, things like that, I need all that.”

“I don’t think getting me four plays in the preseason is going to help me in Week 1,” he concluded. 

“He’s out there in the pregame with the pads on, dancing around,” says New York Jets Quarterback, Sam Darnold. “He’s like, ‘Let’s go, guys, get fired up.’ I’m like, ‘Bro, you’re not even playing. Once you start playing, you can start doing that stuff.'”

“I can’t wait to see what he does on a Sunday,” Darnold expressed. “With him practicing, that’s fun enough. You can tell the guy is a special, special player.”

Brandon Copeland:

Copeland was entering the 2019-2020 NFL regular season fresh off his best year of professional football. The New York Jets starting linebacker was found to have violated the National Football League’s policy regarding performance enhancing drugs. The penalty for this violation involves Copeland being suspended for the first four regular season contests without pay. Other outstanding defensive players such as Patrick Peterson were suspended this past offseason for violating the NFL’s drug policy.

Copeland will be permitted to participate in the NY Jet’s remaining two preseason games as well as the practices leading up to their last preseason game. Assuming the suspension stands and is not appealed, he will not be allowed to be with the organization for the official team activities until October 7th, 2019 as the Jets bye week is early on in this upcoming NFL season.

He stated via Instagram that a supplement he ingested, “Was contaminated with a banned substance that wasn’t listed on the label.”  

Statement from Copeland:

“God’s Plan > My Plan, I’ve spent the better part of 28 years building and working on my legacy. This offseason, I began taking a supplementAFTER multiple verificationsthat it was safe for me to use. Unfortunately, this supplement was contaminated with a banned substance – NOT on its label. Regardless of the reason, League policy says I am responsible for what is in my body. I’ve had a roller coaster ride of a career and all of my previous test results have been negative. I trust that the ppl who know my heart understand that I would never intentionally take a banned substance. To be quite honest, I’m very fond of hard work and wouldn’t want success with the artificial help. Having to be away from my dream for something that was beyond my control will be tough for me however in similar fashion to how I handle other obstacles in my life I will approach this one with a “WATCH WHAT I DO WITH THIS OPPORTUNITY” mentality because my life dreams/missions still continue. Although I can NEVER make up for time loss on the field and away from my teammates who have become family, my team and I will be taking the necessary steps to rectify this situation to the fullest extent of the law. Understanding that God does not make mistakes, I will take this opportunity to thank Him for my blessings – the good, the bad and of course, the ugly. This is simply a chapter in my journey that is still being written. And as always, never let the obstacle become bigger than the OPPORTUNITY 🙏🏽”