Le’Veon Bell had a message for Jets coach Adam Gase as the team prepares for the season opener Sunday against the Bills.

“When I spoke to him yesterday he said, ‘Don’t hold back.’ He feels like he’s ready to go,” Gase said Wednesday. “I think he’s pretty excited to get out there.”

The Jets signed Bell to a four-year, $52.5 million contract in March and have been waiting for Sunday ever since. Bell sat out last season because of a contract dispute with the Steelers. The running back did not play any preseason games with the Jets, so this will be his first time in a game since Pittsburgh’s playoff loss to the Jaguars in January 2018.

“I could carry it 50 [times] if you asked me to. I’m ready,” Bell said. “When I said don’t hold back, I mean literally that. I don’t want them to go out and try to sprinkle me in or things like that. I’m ready to play football. I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment.”

There has been a lot of anticipation for Bell to take the field since he signed in March. Bell skipped most of the spring program, but has looked like his old self in training camp. He has not needed days off and has carried a heavy workload on many days.

Bell said this game is in the top five for him in terms of excitement, comparing it to his first NFL game and to playoff games in Pittsburgh.

“I can’t even explain it, bro,” Bell said. “ It’s been a long time since I played football. A lot of people are excited to watch me play … just quadruple that and that’s how excited I am to play for real.”

As excited as Bell is, Gase sounds like he is almost as eager. Despite having reservations about spending big money on Bell in free agency, Gase is now happy to have him on his offense. Gase said he has never coached a running back as skilled as Bell.

“Not close,” Gase said. “There’s a reason why this guy’s been what he’s been since he’s been in the NFL.”

Gase, who calls the offensive plays, said he is looking forward to calling Bell’s number.

“I love it. It’s going to be fun,” Gase said. “It’s one thing to call plays in practice, but to know that you have him back there and then possibly going back and watching some Pittsburgh tape to remind ourselves who that is back there, it’s a good feeling.”

Bell had 1,946 yards from scrimmage in 2017 with the Steelers. It will be hard to duplicate that, but at 27 he is still in his prime and should have a big year for the Jets. After he sat out a year, some people may have forgotten how effective he can be.

“A lot of people haven’t seen me play in a while,” Bell said. “That’s kind of human nature to kind of forget and things like that. I’m not trying to prove other people wrong. I’m not trying to prove the Steelers wrong. Everybody’s trying to format me with the Steelers. I’m not talking about the Steelers no more. I’m done talking about the Steelers. I just want to worry about the Bills and I want to worry about the Jets.”

And Bell is ready to show the Jets and Bills what he can do Sunday.

“I want to go out there and prove to myself that I’m still the same player, if not better,” Bell said. “I want to prove to my teammates that I’m the same player, if not better, and the Bills. That’s all that matters to me.”

He expects to be nervous before kickoff.

“There’s going to be a lot of butterflies and anxiety and nerves,” Bell said. “All types of things are going to be hitting me before I hit the field. When I go out there and we run that first play it’s going to be gone. I’m going to be ready to play football.”