Would a slow start in 2020 put New York Jets head coach Adam Gase on the hot seat?
When Adam Gase was hired by the New York Jets, there were scratched heads, questions asked and sports radio had much to discuss. Entering his second full season as the head coach of the Jets, all three of those things are still going on.
When asked by ‘Jets Country’ contributor Seth Everett point blank if the Jets get off to a slow start would Gase be on the hot seat, former NFL lineman and current FOX Sports analyst Mark Schlereth said he should be.
After the story broke Wednesday alleging that part of the reason Jets safety Jamal Adams wants out of New York is because of Gase, the doubters came out in full force.
Gase needs to silence those critics and quickly. Adams has been criticized for handling his contract frustrations through social media and the traditional media. The prevailing thought was that if general manager Joe Douglas came up with the contract that made Adams one of the highest-paid defensive players in the NFL, that all would be just fine for both sides. If Gase doesn’t have the respect of the team’s best player as the report on Wednesday claims, then that’s a real problem.
“I just think there's such an important aspect to becoming human and to let your players know, ‘Hey man, I'm flawed and I'm not perfect,” said Schlereth. “I'll make mistakes along the way, but at least we're going to do this and we're going to be forthright and honest with each other.”
The Jets made a plethora of moves in the off-season to improve the club that went 7-9 in 2019. Douglas revamped the offensive line, signing four free agents and using their first-round draft pick on left tackle Mekhi Becton. The Jets added to the receiving core, despite losing wideout Robby Anderson to free agency. They add Breshad Perriman and drafted speedy Denzel Mims in the second round. These changes are to make quarterback Sam Darnold the best possible quarterback he can be.
Darnold has high expectations for his third pro season in 2020 and the Jets are counting on having an elite quarterback. Gase was hired to make Darnold great and part of the pressure Schlereth is pointing to is Darnold’s development.
“If a guy isn't authentic, you'll see that in a heartbeat,” Schlereth said. “Players can read through that and you'll instantly shut that dude off.”
Adams may have shut Gase off and even though he will be judged on his methods of improvement Darnold and the offense, Gase can’t afford to lose the locker room.
Gase campaigned to bring Douglas into the front office, so their alliance would mean that a Gase move would have to come from Jets CEO Christopher Johnson.
Back in 2019 when Gase was hired, Johnson put the onus on himself to make sure this is a strong hire.
"I get it," Johnson told reporters in January of 2019. "Part of it is I have to earn their trust. I think they will see, if not right now, they'll see it pretty soon as a great hire.”
It hasn’t been great yet and the clock is ticking for it to become great. This situation doesn’t help but may provide Gase with a chance at a reset and to enhance his image in the locker room.
