The New York Jets tried unsuccessfully to convince Le'Veon Bell to attend voluntary offseason workouts.

Defensive tackle Steve McLendon, who was a teammate of Bell's for three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, also tried to get Bell to attend the workouts.

"I talked to him and I told him, 'You understand this place is different than Pittsburgh,'" McLendon said. "I said, 'You need to get back so you can understand the quarterback and the situation.' ... I told him, 'The media is gonna get you if you don't come back.' That's the truth. I did tell him that."

McLendon's main pitch to Bell was that getting to know Sam Darnold is important.

"You just want to get to know your teammates, especially when we have a young quarterback," McLendon said. "He needs to know your rhythm, he needs to know how patient you are. It's easy to see on the film but it's so hard to prepare with because [Bell] is very dynamic in the things that he can do. Out of the backfield, in the backfield, lining up at wide receiver, he can do a lot of special things, and for me it's very amazing to have him on our team."