Adam Gase On Jets MVP Jamal Adams: 'A Great Player'
Jamal Adams was named the MVP of the New York Jets on Friday, an honor that was basically a lock since Week 1.
The only Pro Bowl selection on the Jets roster this year, Adams built upon a 2018 where he emerged as one of the best safety prospects in the NFL. Now, Adams is clearly one of the best defensive backs in the entire league as well as being the best player on the Jets roster. He is an established force.
After a falling out with the team following the trade deadline, Adams bounced back to produce a second half of the season that elevated him to become one of the best defensive players in the game. His choice as the team’s top player shouldn’t be a surprise.
And, according to head coach Adam Gase, it wasn’t a surprise. Not. At. All.
“Nobody's surprised by that, I don't think - he's been our, not only probably our best player, but most consistent guy. He's played at an extremely high level the entire year,” Gase told reporters at the team’s facility on Friday.
“There's just no drop off which, that's what makes him a great player. He's just consistently being the same guy every day whether it's practice or a game. He's always playing at an extremely high level. He's made so many plays for us, won us a game against Dallas and just put us in a great position multiple times.”
In that win over the Dallas Cowboys, Adams had eight tackles and a pass defended.
The Curtis Martin Team MVP Award, named after the Jets Pro Football Hall of Fame running back, is voted on by the players in the locker room. Adams won it for a second consecutive year, just the fourth time in franchise history that a player has won the award in back-to-back seasons.
Adams led the Jets with 87 tackles and 15 quarterback hits. In addition, he had 6.5 sacks this year, a career-high.
Given the struggles on offense during the season’s first eight games, the emergence of Adams kept the Jets competitive in a handful of games. That the Jets sit at 6-9 this year, an improvement on their invidual season records from each of the past three seasons, is in large part due to the emergence of Adams in the second half of the year as one of the game’s most-feared defensive players.
