Adam Gase on Disappointing Jets Owner Christopher Johnson: 'I Feel Like I Let Him Down'

Adam Gase said the team is focused on getting better but admits the rebuild is behind schedule

Adam Gase is sticking to his plan, a plan which the New York Jets head coach believes is helping to hold the locker room together during a disappointing season. He admits that the Jets record and development is behind what he had envisioned but, he continues to harp on that plan. 

The Jets are now 1-7 and arguably the worst team in the NFL, the byproduct of a 26-18 loss at the Miami Dolphins on Sunday (a team that until Week 9 was considered the worst in football). Gase had to field questions following the loss about his job security and fans are already fundraising to begin formally protesting his tenure as head coach. 

Just eight games into his coaching career with the Jets, Gase is facing a firestorm over the direction of the team. Jets owners Christopher Johnson was at the game on Sunday in Miami and reportedly looked frustrated over the team’s loss. 

“For me, when we lose a game I feel like I let him down and having not got us to where I was hoping we'd be at - at this point,” Gase said on Monday.  

“He understands that he is going to get everything I have day in and day out to try to work things out of where we are at right now and keep fighting and trying to find a way to win games.” 

To his credit, Gase has done a good job of sticking to a positive message about his team, at least publicly. 

Johnson made a bold move late this spring, firing then general manager Mike Maccagnan following the conclusion of the NFL Draft and much of free agency. Johnson might be forced into a similar premature position if the Jets loss total continues to grow. 

This is, however, Gase’s first year with a team. Perhaps with a new general manager and a full, complete offseason, the Jets roster can and will be improved. There have been an extra-ordinary string of bizarre circumstances this year for the Jets, ranging from Maccagnan’s firing midway through the offseason, quarterback Sam Darnold’s diagnosis of mono, a roster that is lacking in talent and a slew of injuries that decimated the two-deep. 

At the end of the day, Gase can’t control these situations and can only manage them at best. He said that the locker room hasn’t been lost through all this turmoil, pointing to a group that hasn’t given up on getting better. 

“I think the fact that the locker room is doing a good job of sticking together and focusing on coming here and putting in the work, and taking the critiques, and making sure they’re finding ways to communicate better and get better everyday at practice,” Gase said.  

“These guys are working hard to really turn things around, and that’s the number one thing for us is those guys really nailing down, focusing on getting better every day, not worrying about what happened the week before, improve from the week before, correcting mistakes that we make, but move on. I think they’ve done a good job putting the practices together, we just have to do a better job on game day.”