Bell begins brand new chapter with Jaguars
Blake Bell was in an unfamiliar situation after getting cut by the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 1.
For the first time since Bell could remember, he wasn’t on a football team, and it created an unusual feeling for the former Oklahoma quarterback and tight end.
“It’s different,” Bell said in a phone interview with The
Oklahoman on Thursday. “You almost don’t know what to do with yourself . ...
“You’re kind of just working out and waiting. It’s just kind of a waiting game.”
Bell said he returned to Norman and stayed in good shape to make sure he was ready if a team called. He worked out at a Gold’s Gym near his house and at OU with the team’s strength staff, which welcomed Bell with open arms as he waited for a team to sign him.
“That’s the great part about Oklahoma,” he said. “It’s just a big family.”
Bell’s new family is in Jacksonville.
After the Jaguars lost two tight ends — Niles Paul and Austin Seferian-Jenkins — to injury in a span of two weeks, they signed Bell on Oct. 16.
Entering his second game with Jacksonville, Bell said, he hopes
to help the team in any way possible, whether it’s at the tight end position or on special teams.
Finding different ways to help his team has been a main theme throughout Bell’s football career.
At OU, he made a name for himself while serving as Landry Jones’ backup and leading the “Belldozer” package in short-yardage situations.
After Jones graduated, Bell lost the starting quarterback battle to Trevor Knight in 2013, but eventually started some games and played well for the Sooners.
After Knight’s brilliant performance in a 45-31 win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, Bell decided to make the switch from quarterback to tight end for his senior season in 2014.
He didn’t produce eye-popping numbers — 16 catches for 214 yards and four touchdowns — but showed enough potential that the San Francisco 49ers selected him in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Although it took some time to learn blocking techniques, Bell said, a year of playing receiver in high school is one reason the position switch wasn’t difficult.
“When you switch positions like that, all it takes is just listening and watching the guy in front of you,” he said.
“Every year that I’ve been in the NFL, my first year at tight end at Oklahoma, I felt like each and every year I’ve learned something new.”
Bell, who has caught 22 passes for 290 yards in his NFL career, was cut by the 49ers on Sept. 2, 2017, before the Vikings claimed him off waivers one day later.
Now with the Jaguars, Bell will try to make a good impression and stay on the roster for many years to come.
As for the possibility that Sooner fans might get to see the Belldozer package again, he said, “When I got into the league, it was kind of a joke on the team, but we never really got into it. Not since I’ve been in the NFL.
“But hey, you never know. We’ll see.”