FUTURE TENSE
Jets coach Adam Gase is answering questions about his job security just eight games into his first season with the team. It’s been that kind of year. Gase’s future has become a hot topic after the Jets’ 1-7 start and is valid after the 26-18 loss to the lowly Dolphins on Sunday. Jets fans want him gone yesterday. The Jets are not making any changes yet, but team CEO and chairman Christopher Johnson faces a critical decision on whether to stick with Gase beyond this year.
Gase was asked about his job security during a conference call with reporters on Monday.
“It’s just something that I don’t really focus on,” Gase said. “My job is to try to get the team prepared every week, get them ready to go, get them focused on the game that we have to play. One and seven is not fun to go through. Things haven’t gone the way that we wanted to. It’s just that’s what happens in the NFL sometimes and unfortunately, we’re going through it right now.
“All I can focus on is, we’ll be better for having to go through this. It’s extremely tough. We’re going to see how tight we are as a group — coaches, players, support staff, everybody in the building and we’ve got to battle through this. We’ve got to figure out a way to dig ourselves out of this and go find a way to win a game.”
Johnson has not answered questions from reporters since May when he fired general manager Mike Maccagnan, but he was visibly upset after Sunday’s loss. He stood in a tunnel leading to the locker room as the final seconds ticked off, pacing. He then stopped and put his hands on his hips and looked skyward, the gesture of an exasperated man.
It was understandable after watching his team lose to the Dolphins, who have been built to lose in order to secure the No. 1 pick. Johnson hired Gase in January, believing the former Dolphins coach could develop quarterback Sam Darnold and turn his franchise around after three losing seasons under Todd Bowles. He signed a four-year contract believed to be worth more than $20 million.
Instead, the losing has continued and Darnold is scuffling. The Jets are now 10-30 since Johnson took the reins in 2017 when his bother Woody Johnson left to become the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Under Gase, the Jets are averaging a league-low 12 points per game and are also dead last in yards per game (223.5). Darnold has nine interceptions in his last four games. Le’Veon Bell has yet to record a 100-yard rushing game with the Jets. The offense puts together a good drive every now and then but shows no consistency.
All of it has left Gase with the popularity in New York of a bed bug.
Gase said he feels like he understands Johnson’s frustration.
“For me, when we lose a game I feel like I let him down and having not got us to where I was hoping we’d be at at this point,” Gase said. “[Johnson] understands that he is going to get everything I have day in and day out to try to work things out of where we are at right now and keep fighting and trying to find a way to win games.”
To be fair, there are many, many things wrong with the Jets and it does not fall totally on Gase. Maccagnan’s errors in roster building have been clear this season with holes all over the field. The Jets have also had major injury problems with 26 players listed on the injury report last week. They are missing their top five inside linebackers and are starting three backup offensive linemen.
Gase said he has not received any assurances from Johnson about his future, but believes Johnson understands what is happening.
“I have never asked him that directly, I just know in all my conversations that we’ve had with him, we’ve let him know where we are at with our roster and our situations that we’ve had as far as who is moving in and out of the lineup,” Gase said. “He knows what we are trying to do and everyday in practice and through our meetings and what we are working on to get better.”