Le’Veon Bell just wanted to play hooky.

The newly signed Jets running back now says he had only wanted to miss OTAs, training camp and the first game — not the entire Pittsburgh Steelers’ season, according to a report.

But Bell changed his mind when he found out the Steelers could place a franchise tag on him after the season regardless of whether or not he took the field, he told Sports Illustrated in an interview.

“At first I was literally thinking like, ‘I don’t want to play camp and OTAs’ because of the hurt in my body and I’m like, ‘I’m not playing,'” Bell told SI. “When Week 1 comes, I’m going to come, but the things that kind of led up to Week 1, I started thinking, ‘I’m not going to play Week 1.’ After even Week 1, it started to build up and it’s not making me feel comfortable.”

The 27-year-old star running back sat out for the entire 2018 season, holding out in hopes for a better deal after receiving a franchise tag for the second straight year. The yearlong saga largely played out week-by-week before his season finally ended when he refused to report to the team by the Nov. 13 deadline.

With the franchise tag, Bell would’ve earned $14.5 million. He had also turned down another five-year, $70 million offer from the Steelers last summer.

Gang Green inked Bell last week to a four-year, $52.5 million deal. The three-time pro bowler later said the Jets were the team he wanted to sign with all along.

“Once the numbers made sense to me, it wasn’t really a hard decision,” he told reporters in a conference call after the signing. “I made the decision and I’m happy with the decision I made. I woke up feeling amazing.”