NY Jets: Adam Gase ‘went in his shell’ when team struggled last season

NY Jets’ head coach Adam Gase reportedly “went in his shell” during the team’s struggles last season.

NY Jets‘ head coach Adam Gase has been a hot topic of conversation this offseason. And after his rocky first season with the organization, that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

Gase’s name made headlines last month when a tell-all interview was released featuring now-former Jets’ safety Jamal Adams. In the interview, Adams discussed with Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News a variety of issues he had with the organization.

Notably, he mentioned a lack of respect for Gase as a coach and as a leader. Clearly, Mehta believes that sentiment is shared by many in the Jets’ locker room.

Mehta joined the folks over at Turn On The Jets for an episode of their “Badlands” podcast to discuss the fallout from the Adams trade. And he had some choice words for the Jets’ current head coach.

“I think what rubbed Jamal and a lot of the players the wrong way was that when things were going sideways in September and October and when they didn’t have Sam Darnold for three games, rather than try to lift the team, Gase kind of just crawled in a hole. He just kind of went in his shell and that’s something that grown men do not respect. This is not just Jamal Adams. This is widespread throughout the team, in the locker room, and in the organization. And when I say that I mean coaches and front office as well.”

Adam Gase’s struggles with the NY Jets last season have been well-documented.

Gase and the Jets infamously began the season with a woeful 1-7 record struggling through various injuries including, as Mehta mentioned, the loss of their quarterback, Sam Darnold, for a three-game stretch at the beginning of the year.

For weeks, the Jets looked hapless and seemed destined for a top-five pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. But to their credit, the team turned things around — in part due to a very soft schedule — and closed the year out on a 6-2 run to finish 7-9.

However, despite their perseverance, Mehta clearly doesn’t believe that Gase had anything to do with it. And he insists that a large portion of the organization feels the same way.

The comments about Gase “crawling in a hole and going “in his shell” are particularly damning as are his claims that players, coaches, and front office members alike all share the same sentiment that Gase isn’t cut out for the job.

It should be noted that players such as Jordan Jenkins and Alex Lewis have come out in support of Gase over the past few months amidst reports of locker-room dissatisfaction.

But Mehta evidently doesn’t believe that same sentiment is shared by the vast majority of the organization — a sentiment echoed by many fans as well.

Gase will face a crucial season in 2020 as he looks to put to bed his critics and prove that the team’s late-season winning stretch last season was more than just a fluke.