Gase gives insight into Rams that he usually avoids with his Jets
Giving terse, confusing answers about your own players and detailed, gushing breakdowns about your opponent is an art perfected by Bill Belichick. Most of Belichick’s imitators across the league have mastered his surliness and affectations without the winning, and Adam Gase is no different.
Gase can be agitated and evasive when asked about, for example, the mysterious shifting of the team’s play-calling duties. A New York Times headline of “Perform Abysmally, Defend Yourself Vehemently: The Adam Gase Way” was fair.
That doesn’t mean Gase is incapable of being effusive and interesting, though, even in the doom and gloom of a winless season. Asked Thursday about the Rams’ two defensive stars — tackle Aaron Donald and corner Jalen Ramsey — the coach gave genuinely illuminating answers about what makes both players so good.
Both answers portended poorly for a Jets offense that has struggled with tough pass defense. “I think what makes Aaron Donald Aaron Donald is that consistency of, if you do not double team him, he is getting to the ball carrier or getting to the quarterback,” Gase said. “When you watch this guy get double teamed almost every snap, and the five snaps he gets singled up, he wins.
“They’re doing a great job of making it hard to locate him. It is not like you can say ‘he’s just here, he’s always gonna be in this spot.’ They move him around a lot. He’s hard to just focus and target on.” Donald has an NFL-leading 12.5 sacks through 13 games this year, and a ridiculous 56.5 since the start of the 2017 season. And the Jets may be playing backups at both guard positions.
If Gase was giving Donald his due, he was positively gushing about Ramsey, where he showed a rare flash of insight. “He has such a great feel for the game,” Gase said of Ramsey. “He does such a great job of feeling the route, feeling the receiver, he’s stopping. He runs the route for the guy!” Ramsey has been tremendous this year, clamping down on DeAndre Hopkins and DK Metcalf in big divisional wins for the 9-4 Rams.
Ramsey only has two picks total over the last two years, but that’s because teams rarely throw at him.
Gase explained why teams steer away from Ramsey. “He knows when to stay deep, he knows when it’s time to gamble.
The way he transitions with routes is really impressive, let alone his ball skills,” he said. “You better not miss on him. If he’s driving on an out route, and you miss just slightly inside, it’s going the other way.”
There are players like Ramsey and Donald, and everyone else. Gase put it exactly like that on Thursday. “When you start to feel that non-panic from a corner as a wide receiver, that’s good to go through that experience and understand the difference between elite ones and just guys,” he said.
He was discussing how rookie wideout Denzel Mims would benefit from playing against Ramsey. After a detailed explanation of how Mims would learn that players like Ramsey and the Dolphins’ Xavien Howard simply put their hands on receivers differently, he said that a great NFL corner would show Mims what a lesser one is like.
“Now you know what it feels like when you’re going against that guy, and then you don’t go against a player that’s as good. As a player, you can tell, ‘there’s a big difference when this guy jams me compared to this guy.’ Or, ‘when I was running this route, this guy undercut me, and this guy stayed high because he felt my speed more.’
“The elite corners, they don’t panic. You beat ’m off the ball, they find a way to get back in phase and they don’t panic. “
ROCKET MAN
Gase broke out a Little Carmine-grade malapropism when asked if Mims was becoming a No. 1 receiver. “It’s hard for me to ever, the whole one and two — I know Julio Jones is a No. 1,” he said. “I’m no scientific rocket by any means.” True.
INJURY REPORT[
Linebacker Jordan Jenkins will likely need surgery on his injured shoulder, a major blow for one of the Jets’ few competent veterans. Jenkins will be a free agent this offseason after spending the first five years of his career with the Jets. ... La’Mical Perine won’t play Sunday against the Rams; Gase said the rookie running back needs to get a full week of practice but will likely play the final two games. ... Kicker Sergio Castillo was cut on Tuesday but brought back to the practice squad Wednesday. Gase said that practice went well for Sam Ficken, who is trying to return from a groin injury. Gang Green also has Chase McLaughlin, who they claimed from the Jaguars. It’s unclear who will kick on Sunday.