Jets' Joe Douglas: Adam Gase is Part of the Solution
With each loss for the Jets this season, the discourse calling for the firing of Adam Gase has grown.
New York has lost eight in a row to start the year. All but one game has been decided by two-plus possessions. If they keep this up—at or near the NFL's cellar in practically every statistical category—the Jets could very well go 0-16.
Nonetheless, Jets general manager Joe Douglas isn't giving up on the franchise's head coach just yet. That's at least what he told reporters in a Zoom call on Tuesday afternoon.
"The hope is that we can fix these problems together and be here for a while," Douglas said on Gase.
Douglas explained that he believes the Jets are capable of getting where he wants them to go in the future with Gase at the helm. When asked directly if Gase is part of the solution in New York, Douglas nodded.
"Yes," he said.
Gase is in his second year as the Jets head coach, carrying a 7-17 record with Gang Green into Monday Night's Week 9 matchup with the New England Patriots.
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Douglas held himself accountable for New York's performance thus far, taking the blame for just the second winless start through eight games in Jets franchise history.
"This is not all on Adam. I have to do a better job surrounding him with better players and better weapons,” Douglas said. "We're in this together."
New York was a seller leading up to trade deadline, but elected not to make any additional moves in the hours leading up the deadline on Tuesday afternoon. Linebacker Avery Williamson was sent to Pittsburgh on Sunday night after a leading the team in tackles in a 35-9 loss to the Chiefs. He joined defenders Steve McLendon and Jordan Willis as those traded away by the Jets for future draft picks.
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Moving forward, Douglas reiterated that his focus, and that of the entire organization, is winning games rather than securing the first overall selection in next spring's draft. That starts with the Patriots on Monday.
In the meantime, his message to fans is that he and the Jets are taking responsibility for how they've started the season and will continue to work to get into the win column for the first time in 2020.
"We're all frustrated with where we are right now, but everyone in this building has to own it. This record, it belongs to all of us and it's incumbent upon each of us to figure out how we can improve it. I certainly take my fair share of the responsibility."
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