Cincinnati Bengals defensive backs Eli Apple and Vonn Bell want a shot at the New Orleans Saints.
They’re getting it this weekend too, as two players who at one point played for the Saints will line up and hope to stop the New Orleans offense in the Dome.
Apple, who spent two seasons with the Saints, spoke briefly about the infamous social media spat with Saints fans last year
“They love to say my name,” Apple said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “I really enjoyed my time there. The fans were great, it was just some of the comments. It was kind of personal about my family You can’t get into it. You have to act like it’s not happening. But it is.”
Bell’s situation isn’t nearly as dramatic by comparison.
While Bell said he loved his time with the Saints and looks back on it fondly, there is some sense of motivation from the fact the team that drafted him didn’t bring him back.
“They didn’t sign me back,” Bell said, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. “There’s a lot more detail I can’t talk about.”
He added: “They drafted me, yeah, and I appreciate the opportunity…But they moved on from me. You never forget that. It’s a milestone.”
Apple came over after a journey around the league and stepped into the No. 2 role well when Trae Waynes couldn’t go. He’s doing more of the same this year.
Bell, on the other hand, was seemingly pigeonholed as a box-safety free agent. But he’s been a critical leader for the culture change and rather rangy while producing plenty of turnovers, something he’d surely love to do a few times on Sunday afternoon.