By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

For a fleeting moment during this offseason, Jacob Bell’s NFL future appeared to be at right tackle.

With only Alex Barron under contract at the tackle position and better depth inside at guard, the idea was to move Bell outside to help fill the void. The belief was that Bell was athletic enough to make the move and it didn’t hurt that he had some experience in the league at the position.

But one practice into it, that experiment was scrapped.

“They had me out there at right tackle for a day and I don’t know if it didn’t work out or if they didn’t like what they saw,” Bell said.

Actually, Bell has a pretty solid theory as to why he was quickly moved back to his home at left guard.

“I think they liked this kid Jason Smith all along,” Bell said. “They just didn’t know what the other teams were going to do. They didn’t know if they needed to say, ‘Hey, we already have a tackle’ so maybe someone will trade up. I don’t know what they wanted to do.”

That move to right tackle happened during the first minicamp back in April for one day. Soon after Adam Goldberg, who had only recently been re-signed was running with the first team on the right side.

Regardless of where he plays, Bell has showed up to this weekend’s minicamp as a man on a mission.

For the better part of last season, Bell played a solid 15 to 20 pounds below his listed playing weight of 295 pounds. While playing at a lighter weight improved Bell’s quickness and footwork, it made it more difficult for him to be the drive blocker he had a reputation for being when the team signed him in the 2008 offseason.

With that in mind, Bell has attacked this offseason with the idea of adding weight, doing it in a healthy way and finding a way to keep it on. As of this weekend, Bell was noticeably bigger, checking in at 297 pounds.

The secret to Bell’s success? Finding someone to handle the cooking duties.

“I kind of hired a chef, so I’m eating better,” Bell said. “Sometimes when you’re a young bachelor it’s hard to stay on top of your diet and stuff like that. But I have a full-time guy now and I think that’s helped.”

In fact, Bell’s cook is actually his cousin, an aspiring chef who was enrolled in culinary school when he got the call from Bell. Bell says his cousin keeps limits the menu to healthy options but doubles up on the portions and regulates how many calories, carbohydrates and proteins Bell gets in a day.

“He came down here and I said, ‘Hey man, work for me. Get your feet wet. Start dabbling,’” Bell said. “He likes to read about nutrition and he wants to major in nutrition. So he came down here and he gets up an hour before I do and he has a full breakfast prepared, he does four meals a day, four squares a day and a couple protein shakes and I put on some weight.”

Bell’s weight gain program was completely self-motivated, according to coach Steve Spagnuolo.

“That was all him,” Spagnuolo said. “I give him all the credit for that.”

Like anybody, Bell has his favorite foods and still occasionally indulges in barbecue, which is his personal favorite.

Each day, Bell wakes up to a full breakfast, has lunch then what he calls a “pre-dinner” in the middle of the afternoon and then dinner. Mixed in during the day is a protein shake and then another shake before bed. As a general rule, Bell is either eating a meal or drinking a shake every three hours during the day.

Bell says he’d like to have his weight around 300 pounds this season so he can better hold up against some of the bigger defensive linemen.

“I like to be right around 300,” Bell said. “I think I’d feel good at 300. I’ve been there already, but running and all the crazy they have us doing, I can’t keep it on as easy.”

Therein lies the curious case of Jacob Bell. Unlike most normal males who have trouble keeping weight off as they get older, Bell has trouble keeping it on with each passing year.

“Honestly, when I was younger, I was 320, 325, I was a big guy and as I got older I just kept getting more and more lean and couldn’t keep the weight on,” Bell said. “But I think it’s something that I need to do.”
 
Last season, Bell started 13 games at left guard, missing three because of injury. With the added weight and strength plus the addition of center Jason Brown to his right and Barron moving to the left side next to him and the drafting of Jason Smith at tackle, Bell is excited about what the future could hold for the offensive line.

Bell says he believes the moves could help make the line one of the team’s strengths.

“I think we should be,” Bell said. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be. We have too many good players. As long as we stay healthy I think we’ll be pretty good.”

As for maintaining weight during the sweaty and hot St. Louis summer, Bell says he has a plan for that too. 

“That’s when I think you need to get a little buffer,” Bell said. “Then when you get in the two-a-days you have something to lose.”