ADAM’S BOMB
Jets coach admits he once threatened to trade a player to Browns if he didn’t get it together
Adam Gase used to view the Browns as a joke like much of the rest of the football universe. Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who isn’t the biggest fan of Gase these days, revealed last year the former Dolphins coach used to tell players in his doghouse that they would be shipped to Cleveland if they didn’t get their act together. Gase referenced Bill Belichick’s move to deal disgruntled linebacker Jamie Collins to the Factory of Sadness, according to Landry.
The Jets head coach admitted this week he did indeed once tell a player that he’d be Cleveland-bound if they didn’t fall in line, but he wasn’t actually serious.
“That was in a team meeting and it was a joke at the time to one of the other players because we had a 4 p.m. (trade) deadline,” Gase said in the run-up to the Jets Monday
night game against the Browns. “We had a team meeting earlier in the day and one of the guys was like, ‘Well looks like everybody is clean. Nobody is getting traded.’ And (Dolphins GM) Chris Grier and myself were giving him a hard time. I slid it in the PowerPoint. It was supposed to be a joke and I think he took it a little seriously.”
Gase and Landry, who got into a yelling match on the sideline in Week 16 of 2017 in Kansas City, clashed before the player was traded to the Browns for a 4th and seventh round pick before the start of last season. Landry later said, “I just felt like, for some reason, Adam sent me here to die.”
Gase’s decision to trade a Pro Bowl wideout who led the NFL in receptions that season (112) further fueled the notion that he had trouble getting along with players. Gase admitted this week that Landry, who had 206 catches for 2,123 yards and 13 touchdowns in two seasons, “was our best player.”
The Dolphins placed the franchise tag on him before dealing him. Landry ultimately signed a fiveyear, $75.5 million deal (which is really a $2-year, $34 million deal with an escape catch for Cleveland after this season).
So why did the relationship deteriorate?
“There was a lot of good times we had,” Gase said. “There is a lot of good that came out of our two years together. Whether it was me, him, whatever — our relationship fractured at some point — and then he was a free agent and we had to figure out (whether to pay him). We knew his price tag was going to be high. For us it got to the point where we knew we weren’t going to be able to do it and we were able to at least get a pick for him.”
Gase cited salary cap issues as to why he traded away his best offensive weapon, which seems to stretch the bounds of believability. If Gase truly wanted to keep Landry, who was described as a “pain” to coaches in a Miami Herald story at the time, he would have found a way to do it.
The truth is that Gase wanted to get rid of someone he deemed a malcontent. Landry won’t be invited to any Gase family dinners anytime soon after he tweeted four laughing to tears emojis after the Jets hired Gase.
By the way, Gase had a case of selective amnesia when asked what was in his PowerPoint presentation lampooning the Browns.
“I don’t remember exactly what it said,” Gase said. “It was supposed to be a joke.”
We’ll see who gets the last laugh on Monday night.
MOSLEY, WILLIAMS OUT
And the hits just keep on coming for the Jets.
Gang Green will be without Pro Bowl linebacker C.J. Mosley and rookie defensive lineman Quinnen Williams for their showdown against the Browns on Monday night.
Both players were officially ruled out of the game after not practicing on Saturday. Losing Mosley, who suffered a groin injury in the third quarter of the season-opening loss to the Bills, is significant.
He’s an integral piece to Gregg Williams’ puzzle as the defensive play caller.
“I expect to play, but if my body isn’t there, I won’t be able to,” Mosley said on Friday. “I got to be honest with myself.”
Neville Hewitt will start for Mosley, whose absence in the fourth quarter opened the door for Buffalo to rally from a 16-point deficit to win.
Williams left MetLife Stadium in a walking boot, but was walking without a limp in the locker room by Friday.
Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, acquired in a deal with the Patriots this week, is listed as questionable after not practicing all week with a hamstring injury.
Le’Veon Bell (shoulder) and left tackle Kelvin Beachum (ankle) are officially questionable after being limited in practice on Saturday.
The Jets were already dealing with the news that Sam Darnold is out indefinitely due to mononucleosis.