National Football League

Bell tells Detroit Lions rookie RB Ameer Abdullah to 'sleep on the playbook'

Published Jun. 22, 2015 2:06 p.m. ET

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Detroit Lions running back Joique Bell has been around pro football's proverbial block. Bell bounced around from Buffalo to Philadelphia to Indianapolis to New Orleans before catching on with the Lions a few seasons ago.

The 28-year-old running back recently shared a story from his rookie year with AP sportswriter Noah Trister, describing a scene from Bills camp when he and roommate C.J. Spiller acclimated to the NFL.

"He asked me a play, and simultaneously his phone went off. He answers his phone and said, 'Listen, let me call you back, I’m studying with Joique,'" Bell told the Associated Press. "He hangs up the phone, he gave me the play again and he looked over there. I was sleeping on the playbook."

Now a veteran, Bell is advising Lions rookie running back Ameer Abdullah to do the same.

"Go to sleep on the playbook," Bell said, per the AP.

Abdullah, a second-round pick out of Nebraska in the 2015 NFL draft, is appreciative of all the insight Bell has been able to offer,

"He’s a seasoned vet, he knows everything about the playbook," Abdullah told the AP. "He knows the little things that could make a special running back, so I’m soaking in everything that he’s teaching me."

A versatile veteran like Bell and a ripe rookie like Abdullah could make for a perfect combination of experience and youth in Detroit's offensive backfield.

(h/t The Elkhart Truth)

Photo Credit: Raj Mehta/Contract Photographer