Two Months Later, Adam Gase's Confidence In The Jets Is Paying Off
Two months ago, New York Jets head coach Adam Gase told reporters that he had confidence his team would turn the corner on a dismal season. Turns out Gase was right.
And while the Jets don’t have the postseason to play for this weekend, they are very much competing not just for next year but to fulfill the promise of this season.
Rewind two months.
At the midpoint of the NFL season, Gase was under fire. His team was 1-7 and had just lost on the road to the previously winless Miami Dolphins. Gase drew criticism when he said that he saw his team improving, that his first-year with the Jets was pointing in the right direction. From the outside, it seemed laughable.
Now on the cusp of the season’s end, the Jets are headed in the right direction. They have gone 5-2 since that loss in Miami. And on Sunday, they play the 10-5 Bills, a team they lost to in Week 1. The Jets had been hoping to play meaningful football in December but the slow start killed their postseason ambitions.
Now Gase is hoping to knock off a playoff-bound opponent to give his team momentum and hope heading into the offseason. After last week’s 16-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jets are 6-10 and certainly a different team than when they played the Bills in Week 1.
“You always want to be playing another week, that’s the toughest part about this week. You always want to play another week, get a chance to get in the tournament and see what happens. Because once you get in there, anything can happen. You’ve seen teams over the last decade or so that you get surprised when they get a run,” Gase told reporters at the team’s facility on Thursday.
“We just didn’t start off fast enough, whatever reason that is, it is irrelevant. We’ve played better here on the back half of the season, there’s a lot better complimentary football. I think guys understand how we want to play from week-to-week. Last week was a really good example, I thought the guys did a phenomenal job. Playing exactly how we wanted to play against that team.”
The confidence Gase had in his team when they were at their lowest now has ramifications this year. Not only will they finish with an improved record over last year and a respectable one at that, the Jets are clearly pointed in a different direction heading into the offseason.
Gase on Thursday said he’s not thinking that far ahead. But this week, safety Jamal Adams tweeted that he’s pleased to see this team’s development and growth.
That Adams has bought-into the team’s direction is significant. Not only is he the team’s unquestioned star and biggest public voice, he’s also the only Pro Bowl selection on the Jets.
“We’re still in this one right now. I love the fact that Jamal, he feels great at least about the direction we’re going,” Gase said. “How things are coming together, how guys are playing together. We’ll see how things go.”
If he buys into the rebuild and where it is at, it sends a message to the league and the Jets heading into free agency.
Three weeks ago, the Jets season turned during a poor 22-6 loss at the Cincinnati Bengals that knocked them out of playoff contention. Since then, the focus of 2019 has turned from slim playoff hopes to next year. The Jets will in all likelihood have a top 10 pick (though that could change if they win on Sunday) and should be players in the free agent market.
“Hopefully we can build off just really our experiences from this year and then kind of see how things shake out as the offseason,” Gase said.
“Then when we hit next spring, we can start building off what did here the back half of this season.”
