On Sputtering Jets Offense, Adam Gase: 'It's Not Fun'
Last in the NFL in total offense, New York Jets head coach Adam Gase sounds and looks frustrated over what is going on with his team.
The Jets are ranked last in the league in passing offense, rushing offense and tied for the bottom in points per game. It doesn’t take a brilliant football or mathematical mind to deduce that their offense as a whole is the worst in the NFL. This is a bad unit by every definition and measurable. Because of that, there is justifiable concern that second-year quarterback Sam Darnold is regressing in terms of his development.
This past Sunday, it started off with such promise for the Jets as they went 75 yards on 11 plays, a Darnold touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder giving them a 7-0 lead at the Miami Dolphins. But that was a scripted opening drive and after that, the Jets simply didn’t move the ball effectively.
This point was underscored when a Vycint Smith 78-yard kickoff return got the Jets into the red zone late in the first half. That drive ended not with points but a Darnold interception thrown on the goal line.
These obscene struggles have led to the Jets simplifying the offense a week ago, a process of watering down the playbook potentially a bit more for the rest of the season that Gase called “trying to figure out what’s right for our group.” Darnold missed time earlier this year with a diagnosis of mono and perhaps is a bit behind the curve in terms of his growth and development.
“He's learning, he's learning our stuff, he's trying to get all of the little nuances out. Until you master something, it is hard to say, ‘Hey, here's how I want it,’ when you don't know all the things going on and it's like you are learning, learning, learning,” Gase said.
“I think he is to the point where he's gone through a lot of things since the Spring and now it's the last four or five weeks it's really since he's been back and he was able to spend some time over that Bye Week to really dig into this thing and watch a ton of tape, to I think he really feels more comfortable than what he's ever felt since he's been in the offense.”
A major reason why he is the Jets head coach is because Gase had developed a reputation as an offensive mastermind. Someone who was ahead of the curve in what he is thinking and developing.
Gase’s reputation is pinned on that famed 2013 season where he was the offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos. That year, quarterback Peyton Manning set NFL records in passing yards and passing touchdowns, something that likely had more to do with Manning being a future Hall of Fame quarterback than anything in the offensive scheme.
But Gase is here now with a second-year quarterback who is struggling and an offense that is sputtering.
Manning isn’t walking through that door in a time machine to lead the Jets offense.
“It's not fun by any means. I just keep trying to find ways to help our guys, put them in good positions, find ways to get them better, find ways to keep clean football,” Gase said.
“That's our big thing right now, can we play consistently for four quarters, drive after drive, cleaner football, eliminate all of these little penalties, any kind of mental errors, any lapses that we are having? Those are less, it's now us not hurting ourselves.”
