Tag: Adam Gase

Sam Darnold ‘not sure’ if he played his last game with Jets

The Jets have an important decision to make about the future of Sam Darnold this offseason, but he’s not sure what will happen.

There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding Sam Darnold’s future in New York following the Jets’ Week 17 loss to the Patriots. 

He didn’t play well to end the season, is coming off his worst year in the league and could be on his way out with the Jets owning the second pick in a quarterback-rich draft. Darnold knows his time in New York could be running out, but he wouldn’t say if he thought this was his last game in a Jets jersey. 

“I’m not sure,” he said when asked about his future after the game, per the New York Post’s Zach Braziller.

“I don’t think I played well enough,” Darnold added. “That’s all I can worry about.”

Darnold completed 67 percent of his passes for 266 yards and two scores in Week 17, but he also tossed two costly interceptions and almost fumbled the ball in what should have been a routine throwaway. At times, Darnold played like the No. 3 overall pick with crisp passes, but he also had a few horrific throws that didn’t even include the two turnovers.

On the year, Darnold looked even worse. He finished the 2020 season with just 2,208 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The yards and touchdowns are both career lows, though he played in only 12 games this season due to a shoulder injury. 

“I definitely didn’t play well this year I think,” Darnold said, per the Post.

There is a chance Darnold sticks around for another season, though, depending on who the coach is. It almost certainly won’t be Adam Gase after a second consecutive losing season with an offense that finished at the bottom of the league. Darnold said he loved playing for Gase, though, despite the coaching playing a key role in Darnold’s down year. The quarterback wouldn’t comment on if he thought Gase should remain the coach in 2021.

“That’s not my decision,” Darnold said, per the Post. “I love him, I love playing for him.”

Darnold said he isn’t focused on if he or Gase will be on the team next season. Right now, he’s just trying to learn from the loss and focused on “living in the moment.”

“I’m not going to deal with ‘What if this happens, what if that happens,’” Darnold said, per SNY. “Right now – it was a bad loss against the Patriots. I’m just gonna soak it and watch the tape. I’m not going to worry about [the future] until it’s front and center.”

Marcus Maye not guessing about his, Adam Gase’s Jets futures: ‘That decision is not up to me’

Marcus Maye would like to return to the Jets, but he realizes that decision may be out of his control, as well as Adam Gase’s future.

Marcus Maye enjoys life in New York, but he realizes that the decision to stay isn’t entirely his.

“I love it here, I’m comfortable here,” Maye said following New York’s season finale, per SNY. “That decision is not up to me. I can only control what I can control.”

As Maye’s future with the organization hangs in the balance, he’s also cognizant that the future of his head coach remains uncertain as well. When asked about Adam Gase’s future with the organization, Maye responded with similar sentiments.

“That’s out of my control,” Maye said, per NorthJersey.com’s Andy Vasquez.

Gase is expected to be let go following Sunday’s 28-14 loss against the Patriots. For Maye, it’s not that simple. The Jets would be wise to extend Maye before he hits free agency because he’ll certainly have multiple suitors. That said, the Jets have plenty of financial and football decisions to make before the start 2021 season, especially after a 2-14 season.

Maye quickly became the centerpiece of the Jets defense, on and off the field, after Jamal Adams was traded over the summer. The veteran safety is New York’s unquestioned leader on the defensive side of the ball and also played some of the best football of his career in 2020.

He finished his fourth season playing in all 16 games, missing just a handful of defensive snaps. Maye recorded 80 total tackles, four tackles for loss, 11 passes defended, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.

Sam Darnold’s poor showing among takeaways from Jets’ Week 17 loss to Patriots

The Jets didn’t look much different in this game than the rest of the season, which proved the team needs to rebuild following the loss.

We learned almost nothing new about the Jets in Week 17.

The offense looked alright but flopped in moments of need, Sam Darnold made some good throws and some truly horrid ones, and the defense couldn’t stop anything all afternoon. If anything, this game proved that the Jets need a complete remake in order to change the culture of the team. The Jets are fully expected to fire Adam Gase sooner rather than later, and he didn’t do much to give Christopher Johnson any reason to change his mind. New York’s offense couldn’t score more than 14 points and the offense gave up three unanswered scores to lose by double digits.

Here are four takeaways from the Week 17 loss to the Patriots.

Decade of disaster: Jets own NFL’s longest active playoff drought

The Jets have the NFL’s longest active playoff drought at 10 years.

After another season without making the postseason, the Jets own the NFL’s longest active playoff drought.

The Browns previously owned the longest playoff drought at 18 years, but they officially clinched their spot in this year’s playoffs with a win over the Steelers on Sunday. Now the Jets have taken the lead with 10 years of not making the postseason.

The last time the Jets made it past Week 17 was in 2010, when Rex Ryan was the head coach. They made the AFC Championship game and lost for the second consecutive year.

This is the second-longest playoff drought in Jets franchise history. New York had an 11-year playoff drought from 1970 to 1980 before finally making the postseason in 1981.

In the last 10 years, the Jets have had one winning season. That came in Todd Bowles’ first season as head coach in 2015, when the Jets finished 10-6. However, they failed to make the playoffs that season after losing to Ryan’s Bills in the season finale.

New York will enter the 2021 season coming off its second-worst record in franchise history at 2-14. Only Rich Kotite’s 1996 Jets had a worse record than the 2020 Jets under Adam Gase.

Unless the Jets have a major turnaround next season, their playoff drought could tie for the longest in team history.

Adam Gase to meet with Christopher Johnson soon: ‘I’m not gonna predict anything’

Adam Gase said he will meet with Christopher Johnson soon following the Jets’ season-finale against the Patriots.

It won’t be much longer until Adam Gase definitively finds out his future with the Jets.

Gase said that he is “sure” he will meet with Christopher Johnson either Sunday night or at some point Monday following New York’s 28-14 loss to the Patriots in Week 17. Although his fate is likely sealed after compiling a 9-23 record in two seasons with the Jets, Gase is avoiding speculating what his meeting with Johnson could entail.

“I don’t know,” Gase said, per NorthJersey’s Andy Vasquez. “I’m not gonna predict anything.”

NFL Network reported Saturday that Gase would likely be fired following New York’s season finale against New England. The expectation is that the search for New York’s next head coach will be a long and thorough process, with Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, Ravens DC Don “Wink” Martindale, Titans OC Arthur Smith and Rams DC Brandon Staley among the pro-level candidates.

Iowa State’s Matt Campbell and Florida’s Dan Mullen were also mentioned as candidates from the college ranks that could receive consideration.

With the Jets starting the 2020 season losing their first 13 games, the writing has been on the wall for Gase for the last couple of months. Barring a major change in thinking, it is highly unlikely Gase leaves his meeting with Johnson gearing up for his third season as Jets head coach.

Adam Gase to meet with Christopher Johnson soon: ‘I’m not gonna predict anything’

Adam Gase said he will meet with Christopher Johnson soon following the Jets’ season-finale against the Patriots.

It won’t be much longer until Adam Gase definitively finds out his future with the Jets.

Gase said that he is “sure” he will meet with Christopher Johnson either Sunday night or at some point Monday following New York’s 28-14 loss to the Patriots in Week 17. Although his fate is likely sealed after compiling a 9-23 record in two seasons with the Jets, Gase is avoiding speculating what his meeting with Johnson could entail.

“I don’t know,” Gase said, per NorthJersey’s Andy Vasquez. “I’m not gonna predict anything.”

NFL Network reported Saturday that Gase would likely be fired following New York’s season finale against New England. The expectation is that the search for New York’s next head coach will be a long and thorough process, with Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, Ravens DC Don “Wink” Martindale, Titans OC Arthur Smith and Rams DC Brandon Staley among the pro-level candidates.

Iowa State’s Matt Campbell and Florida’s Dan Mullen were also mentioned as candidates from the college ranks that could receive consideration.

With the Jets starting the 2020 season losing their first 13 games, the writing has been on the wall for Gase for the last couple of months. Barring a major change in thinking, it is highly unlikely Gase leaves his meeting with Johnson gearing up for his third season as Jets head coach.

Instant Analysis: Jets cap 2020 season with loss to Patriots

Jets Wire breaks down New York’s final loss of the 2020 season, a 28-14 defeat to the Patriots.

The Jets had been playing their best football of 2020 when they traveled to New England to take on the Patriots, but even that was not enough for New York to knock off its arch-rival for the first time in five years.

In what could have been his final game with the Jets, Sam Darnold tossed a costly interception that allowed the Patriots to jump out to a 21-14 lead early in the fourth quarter. New York failed to equalize from that point on, capping its 2020 season with a 28-14 loss to New England.

With 2020 mercifully over, it’s now on to a crucial offseason. With impending decisions on Darnold and Adam Gase’s future nearing, as well as the free agency period and the draft on the horizon, Joe Douglas is going to be a busy man as he works to turn the Jets from a 2-14 team into a competitive one.

Game Balls

TE Chris Herndon: Herndon was the Jets’ lone bright spot offensively, catching seven passes for 63 yards and a touchdown in the second quarter. He struggled mightily throughout 2020, but Herndon came to life in New York’s last two games. That could be something for him to build on heading into next season.

OLB Frankie Luvu: Luvu was quick off the edge against the Patriots, registering five tackles, one sack, one TFL, one quarterback hit and one pass deflection. He was an integral part of New York’s pass rush over its final three games.

Quick Thoughts

-How did Gase spend his final game as Jets head coach? By dialing up the same conservative play-calling that has largely contributed to his downfall. It would have been nice to see Gase open things up and let Darnold take chances downfield, but that’s just not in his DNA. Even when he is coaching for nothing and Darnold is playing for everything.

-Sticking with Darnold, odds are he has thrown his final pass as a Jet. After three seasons of turnover-filled and inconsistent play, it’s time for both parties to move on. If that indeed happens, Darnold’s career with New York ended in an appropriate fashion: an interception on a pass into double coverage that put the nail in the coffin of a Jets loss was nearly his last throw of the game.

-Sans New York’s blowout loss to the Seahawks, Frank Bush did a good job with the Jets’ defense after taking over for Gregg Williams. The unit steadily improved in all areas and resembled a competent one by the end of the season. Bush deserves credit for making that happen, even if his group did not do enough to help the Jets cap 2020 with a win.

-Should the Jets be worried about Mekhi Becton’s durability heading into the next season? He dealt with an assortment of injuries throughout his rookie season and that continued against the Patriots when he left with an ankle injury in the third quarter. It’s probably too early to push the panic button on any potential injury concerns, but Becton is a big man. His frame could make him susceptible to more knicks and bruises in 2021 and beyond.

-Two games, two touchdown catches for Herndon. It’s about time the Jets got him more involved in the passing game. Maybe 2021 could be the year he puts it all together.

-Ty Johnson was a really nice find by Joe Douglas. He and La’Mical Perine combine to give the Jets two solid running backs entering 2021. The position could still use a little bit of work in the offseason, though.

-He might not necessarily be a top priority this offseason, but the Jets should certainly look into bringing Neville Hewitt back. At the very least, he’s a key depth piece for New York at middle linebacker — a position that has been ravaged by injuries the last two seasons.

-It would have been nice to see Denzel Mims more involved in the Jets’ passing attack prior to his departure with a concussion. He ends the season on a quiet note after coming on strong midway through his rookie year.

-New York’s 2-14 finish marks the first time in franchise history it has finished with such a record. A fitting end to such an unfathomably bad season.

Jets vs. Patriots game recap: Everything we know about from New York’s season finale

A look at the Jets’ 2020 season finale against the Patriots.

The Adam Gase Era (likely) ended with a (fitting) dud on Sunday.

The Jets dropped their season finale in Foxborough, 28-14. In doing so, New York finished the 2020 season 2-14 and without a single divisional win.

New York’s defense was repeatedly fooled by one of the NFL’s worst offenses, while several late mistakes from Gang Green’s signal-caller did them in — for possibly the last time.

With a miserable season now mercifully over, the focus will immediately turn to a future loaded with difficult questions but also plenty of reason for optimism.

Report: Jets expected to part ways with Adam Gase following Sunday’s season finale

The New York Jets are expected to part ways with head coach Adam Gase following Sunday’s season finale against the Patriots in New England.

No surprise here, but the Jets are expected to part ways with Adam Gase following Sunday’s season finale against the Patriots, according to NFL Network.

The expectation is that the search for New York’s next head coach will be a long and thorough process. Per NFL Network, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy, Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, Ravens DC Don “Wink” Martindale, Titans OC Arthur Smith and Rams DC Brandon Staley are among the pro-level candidates expected to be considered.

As for the college ranks, Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh and Florida’s Dan Mullen were also mentioned. However, Harbaugh is on the verge of signing an extension with Michigan through 2026, according to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.

In 31 games as New York’s head coach, Gase has gone 9-22. After starting the season 0-13, the Jets have won back-to-back games over potential playoff teams in the Rams and Browns.

However, the writing has been on the wall for Gase for a while now. Regardless of what happens in Week 17, the expectation has long been that New York will start its head-coaching search following its season finale in New England.

4 New Year’s resolutions for the Jets in 2021

Jets Wire takes a look at four New Year’s resolutions that could help the Jets get back on track in 2021.

2020 has been a year most people at One Jets Drive would like to forget.

After an offseason filled with drama surrounding Jamal Adams’ future with the organization, navigating COVID-19 and an 0-13 start to the season, it has been a disastrous 12 months for the Jets. A new year brings about hope for the future, though, and New York will have a chance to reverse its fortunes in a major way in 2021.

How are the Jets going to go about accomplishing that? Here are four New Year’s resolutions that might help the cause.