Adam Gase Just Raved about Marcus Maye. It Sounded Like a Description of Jamal Adams

In praising Marcus Maybe, New York Jets head coach Adam Gase just described Jamal Adams in 2019.

The description given by New York Jets head coach Adam Gase for safety Marcus Maye sounds an awful lot like Jamal Adams.

Thursday on a virtual conference call with the media following practice, Gase was asked about the growth of Maye entering into his fourth year in the league. After sitting in the shadows of Adams the past three years, Maye is primed for a larger and more prominent role in the Jets secondary. It is a role that sounds a lot like the destroyer duties that turned Adams into an All-Pro last year.

“He’s challenging in the aspect of you are not really sure what he’s going to do when he’s lined up . You don’t know if he’s coming, you don’t know if he’s going to the middle of the field, you don’t know if he’s going half-field, you don’t know if he’s going to play underneath coverage,” Gase said on Wednesday’s conference call.

“Marcus has very good awareness, especially in zones. He’s really good in man-to-man. He has a really good ability to break up balls in man-to-man coverage. You notice out here, he gets a lot of hands on the ball. He has a pretty tough match-up every day when him and Chris Herndon go at it. It’s fun to watch, When you are either a coach or a spectator, that’s a good match-up. Those are two good players going at it. Marcus brings a lot of versatility

The Jets trade of Adams three weeks ago opens the door for Maye to have a greater role in the defense. Last year, Adams was deployed all over the field, both as a hard-hitting safety with the ability tostep- up and help in run defense but also as a pass rusher who had 6.5 sacks and 13 quarterback hits.

Adams was the most complete defensive player in the NFL last year and the game’s most dynamic safety. What Maye brings to the table seems to be similar according to his head coach.

“Marcus brings a lot of versatility, he’s very smart,” Gase said. “He can get guys lined up and make things look like one thing and it’s something else. He’s one of those guys, there’s nothing you can say he doesn’t do well.”

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