It's not lost on Le’Veon Bell.

Yes, he has a new team, one that has a long way to go to become a contender. He stresses his focus is on the New York Jets and making them better every day.

But the former Pittsburgh Steelers running back also recognizes what could have been. He was in his prime on a team with a star quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger and arguably the best receiver in football, Antonio Brown. Bell and Brown are gone, the latter traded to the Raiders. Roethlisberger remains. And the Steelers are in transition.

“Even before I got to Pittsburgh, you always got to look somewhere to find that chip on your shoulder for motivation,” Bell, a second-round pick out of Michigan State in 2013, told USA TODAY Sports recently in a phone call. “So when I got to Pittsburgh, I used that from the draft. I remember all the teams that passed on me. ‘I’m going to make you regret it.’ Then I got to Pittsburgh and we had the whole contract thing that happened. It didn’t work out in Pittsburgh. I’m out of Pittsburgh. And now I’m in a new city, a new team, and a lot of people haven’t even given us a chance cause they don’t like our roster. They think we don’t have the talent.

“I’m thinking I’m going to show everybody. I’m going to show people that, look, Pittsburgh had something special and they let it go. That’s what I’m going to go out there and do.”

Bell will get the opportunity to face off against his former team when the Jets host the Steelers in Week 16.

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Bell sat out all of last season after the Steelers gave him the franchise tag for the second consecutive season. He later signed with the Jets on a four-year deal worth a maximum of $52.5 million.

“I would do everything the same,” Bell said of taking the year off. “I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Bell, 27, is set to enter his sixth season and is one of the league's best all-purpose threats. In five years in Pittsburgh, he totaled 5,336 rushing yards, 2,660 receiving yards and 42 total touchdowns.

He now joins a young Jets team that has made some strides but still may be a few pieces away from becoming a contender in the AFC East under new coach Adam Gase.

The biggest roadblock, of course, is the New England Patriots, winners of the division in 15 of the last 16 seasons, including the last 10.

Despite New England’s dominance, Bell – who has plenty of history in facing the Pats in significant matchups while he was in Pittsburgh – didn’t shy away from the challenge.

“They’ve been running (the AFC East) for so long that there’s got to be a time for a change at some point,” Bell said of the Patriots. “I always try to put faith in myself and my team; why not now? I want guys to have that same attitude. We obviously know it’s going to be a great challenge.

“Tom Brady is the GOAT. Literally, he’s the greatest quarterback of all time. Bill Belichick, he can punch his ticket in as one of the greatest of all time. When you’re going against that, and those two guys are legends, me, I want to be in that category as a legend. When people come look at me, what’s going to separate me from the next great running back? That’s what it will take, to take out two guys like that.”

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Bell spoke to USA TODAY Sports on behalf of Madden NFL 20, the popular video game that launched a brand new playing mode called Superstar KO on Tuesday. The new mode allows players to team up with other users to set their rosters and challenge other squads to five-minute games, where the winning team has the chance to take the best players from the other team’s roster.

“It’s so different, and different in a good way,” Bell said of Superstar KO. “The game is a lot quicker. They already got the stars with their attributes activated already. Guys going crazy at the beginning of the game. And that’s what you want. It gives you the chance to run games back to back to back, using different players. I like it a lot.”

Bell said he has been an avid Madden player his whole life and said he was pleased with his rating of 92 overall, tying him for the third-best running back in the game.

“I grew up playing Madden, even since I was seven, eight years old with my uncle whupping up on me,” Bell said. “That’s what made me the competitor that I am, for real, today.”

Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes.