BALTIMORE — Five nights earlier, Le’Veon Bell bowled a career-high 251 at the Boonton, N.J. lanes the night before the Jets beat the Dolphins, a game he sat out with the flu.

On Thursday night, Bell rushed for his Jets high — 87 yards on 21 carries — in a 42-21 loss to the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.

Bell’s rushing performance was one of a few positives to come out of the lopsided loss to the 12-2 Ravens. It, too, came just a couple of days after he conceded he didn’t feel he’s been utilized properly by head coach Adam Gase.

“Coach [Gase] gave me some opportunities today, so it was overall good feeling for me coming out of the game healthy,’’ Bell said. “When you get the ball in doses, it allows you to kind of feel the defense out and when you get into a rhythm with the O-line that’s when special things start to happen. I think we got a little sense of that today and it felt good.’’

Bell, who said he lost about eight pounds while out with the flu, said his “wind felt good’’ in the game, adding, “the guys up-front did a great job of moving guys off the ball and getting some lanes.’’

“I felt good, my breathing felt fine and the coaches did a good job getting me out of the game to give me a breather and protect me from myself,’’ Bell said. “I’ve got to give credit to coach, he did a good job.’’

It was a far cry from Tuesday when Bell sounded frustrated about not getting enough rushes to get into a rhythm.

“He had some good runs tonight, and we were trying to match him up in the passing game,’’ Gase said. “Earl [Thomas, the Ravens safety] was doing a good job of matching up on him, and we kind of felt like there were two guys on him. They were on Le’Veon pretty quick.’’

Bell had just two catches for 1 yard.

“We knew on third downs I probably wouldn’t be matched up one-on-one a lot,’’ Bell said. “They had a guy on me and had a guy with help. But we were able to move the ball.’’

Just not enough to win. Even Bell’s most yards rushing as a Jet were not enough to prevent a 21-point loss.

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