FLORHAM PARK — Le’Veon Bell started the season as one of the Jets’ biggest question marks. But after three dismal weeks of football, the running back has been one of the team’s few bright spots.

After missing all of 2018 because of a contract standoff with the Steelers, Bell has proved himself capable of carrying a big workload for his new team. But that burden may be unsustainable.

Through three games, Bell has been on the field for 182 of the team’s 189 offensive snaps (96.3 percent). Bell, who led the NFL in touches in 2017 with 406, is one of two players on pace for more than 400 this year.

It’s a workload that seems unsustainable, but not in Bell’s eyes.

“Nope,” he said Thursday. “No, I play football. I just sat out a whole year. It’s like I kind of reset. All of the touches I didn’t get last year, you can double it up this year. It’s fine.”

When Bell was reminded that he’s a human being — he’s already dealt with a shoulder injury this season, after getting dinged up in practice — and that 800 touches would be a bad idea, he was undeterred.

“Why not?” Bell said. “I’m going to get up. Every time I hit the ground, I’m going to get up.”

It’s an admirable attitude from the 27-year-old, who has been everything the Jets could have hoped for, even if his heavy workload has yet to make much of an impact. Playing with a third-string quarterback and a struggling offensive line, the Jets haven’t scored an offensive touchdown since Week 1.

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It would probably be wise for coach Adam Gase to limit Bell’s workload going forward — especially with the Jets playing 13 consecutive games to end the season after their early bye week. But Gase admitted this week it won’t be easy.

“It's hard to take him off the field,” Gase said. “When you kind of say like, 'Hey, we'd love to take you out this series,' it's not ideal for him. He wants to be in there.”

Gase said the Jets are always trying to find opportunities to get Bell some rest and admitted: “we’re definitely going to have to start looking at that going forward.” That's wise, because the last thing the Jets need is to bang up their primary offensive weapon just as they're finally starting to get healthy.

Bell has gotten little blocking and taken plenty of punishment and is averaging only 4.8 yards per touch, his first time under 5.0 since his rookie year of 2013 in Pittsburgh. But if Bell is exasperated, he’s not showing even a hint of it. That attitude has impressed his coach.

“He's not a complainer,” Gase said. “He's always [saying], ‘Hey, what do I need to do different? How can I help?’ He's always looking for the solution. He's been awesome in that aspect of just trying to help, like how do we get positive plays? How do we stay ahead of the sticks? How do we get third-and-manageable? How do we stay first down, second down, first down? He's been outstanding as far as just trying to find the solution.”

Osemele out?

The Jets could be without starting left guard Kelechi Osemele on Sunday. He missed his second straight practice Thursday, after banging up his already-injured shoulder during individual drills in Wednesday's full-pads practice.

Gase said he wasn't sure of the seriousness of the shoulder injury and that Osemele was being evaluated Thursday. Osemele is also dealing with a knee injury.

"That's not great either," Gase said. "He's pretty banged up right now."

Gase said earlier this week that he was already seriously considering major changes on the offensive line, which has been struggling, and he's not leaning toward a specific player to replace Osemele if he can't play.

The Jets could also go with Jonotthan Harrison, their backup center who also has some guard experience.

"He's been repping everything," Gase said of Harrison. "He's been repping both guards. He's been repping center. His intelligence level and his knowledge of the offense is outstanding, so putting him in all those different spots, he knows what to do. Obviously, I like him better at center, but he gives us a lot of flexibility."

Meanwhile, starting linebackers C.J. Mosley (groin) and Jordan Jenkins (calf) also didn't practice Thursday. Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas (hamstring) and kickoff returner/running back Trenton Cannon (hamstring/ankle) both returned to practice on a limited basis. Rookie defensive tackle Quinnen Williams (ankle) was limited but is expected to play for the first time since Week 1.

Andy Vasquez is the Jets beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Jets analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.

Email: vasqueza@northjersey.com Twitter: @andy_vasquez