Surviving Camp with Markel Bell, Part 1: Feeling nervous … but not on the field

Surviving Camp with Markel Bell, Part 1: Feeling nervous … but not on the field originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Over the next several weeks of Eagles training camp, we’ll be catching up weekly with third-round offensive tackle Markel Bell from Miami. We’ll be tracking his progress as Bell acclimates to life in the NFL.

Markel Bell sang just two words before the boos began.

In front of the entire team, the Eagles’ third-round pick from Miami began to sing the hit song “Tennessee Whisky” for his rookie performance. Unfortunately, second-round pick Eli Stowers also decided to sing the Chris Stapleton song and got to go first. So Bell got booed for a lack of originality.

“It was unfortunate because it wasn’t planned,” Bell said on Monday. “I had to do another song later.”

Bell’s second song went better. He luckily got through his rendition of “Knee Deep” unscathed, surviving one of the first rites of passage at Eagles training camp. There are plenty of other tests to follow.

Bell, 22, considers himself an “all right” singer but admitted he was nervous for his performance — way more nervous than he is on a football field.

When it comes to his first NFL training camp, the mammoth 6-foot-9, 346-pound Bell has actually kept pretty calm. He didn’t even feel very nervous entering his rookie camp.

How has he been able to remain so calm?

“It’s football,” Bell explained. “It’s football, man. There’s no reason to overcomplicate it. Football is already hard as it is. The only thing I can do is go out there and work and put my best foot forward.”

Of course, Bell felt prepared too. He spent the break between spring practices and training camp in Philadelphia. That gave him extra opportunities to spend time with his new veteran teammates who were around the facility. He mentioned Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson specifically.

Mailata is the Eagles’ starting left tackle and considered to be one of the best in the NFL. At 6-foot-8, there aren’t many players taller than Mailata, but Bell at 6-foot-9 is one of them.

That’s probably why Mailata was a bit incredulous when asked about Bell during OTAs.

“I don’t know where we found him,” Mailata said. “They said they found him out of Miami. That’s a lie. He’s not of this planet.”

Bell on Monday smiled wide and chuckled a bit when asked if he knew what Mailata said about him this spring. He did.

And now he’s just trying to spend as much time around him as possible.

“He’s a good guy and he’s very good to learn from,” Bell said. “Good background and his work ethic and his character as well. And obviously he’s a great football player too. He got it all.”

It’s early in training camp, but with Lane Johnson missing a couple days for non-football reasons, the Eagles actually got Bell some first-team reps at practice on Monday at right tackle. Those are extremely valuable.

While Bell did get some practice reps on the right side of the line at Miami, he played only left tackle in games. Protecting the blindside has always been Bell’s job, but the Eagles are cross-training him on the right side. That is taking some getting used to.

But the Eagles’ resident future Hall of Famer is pushing him.

“I was literally just talking to Lane,” Bell said. “He was in the same predicament (when he was a rookie). There’s going to be some growing pains. Now, Lane is a first-ballot. The rest is history.”

Training camp isn’t easy, but Bell said he expected it to be hard. He’s happy to put in the work.

What he might not have expected was how tough it would be to get in front of his new teammates and belt out a song. If you’re wondering, Bell said the best rookie performances belonged to Cole Payton and Micah Morris. Morris performed a Lil Wayne song, while Payton went with Drake.

Maybe Bell’s performance wasn’t the very best, but he got through it. And sometimes that’s what training camp is all about.

Goal for next week: “Nothing in particular. I’m trying to contribute. I’m trying to get on the field and do what’s best for this team. I’m trying to put myself in the best position. I’m already in the best position. I’m trying to take advantage of the opportunity I got.”

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