After two straight wins to close December, the Adam Gase era in Florham Park may have ended with a whimper Sunday, a 28-14 Jets loss to New England that finishes Gang Green’s season at 2-14.
Craig Carton first reported last week that the decision had been made inside the building to relieve Gase of his head coaching duties following the finale, news that NFL.com insiders confirmed later in the week – but Gase still isn’t admitting any possibility that Sunday was his Waterloo.
“I’m sure we’ll talk tonight or tomorrow,” Gase said postgame when asked if he had heard from Jets owner Christopher Johnson. “I’m not going to predict anything.”
Gase had said Wednesday when asked about Carton’s report that “it’s news to me,” but Gang Green’s 2-14 finish comes after an 0-13 start that left the Jets a few weeks away from the No. 1 pick, and ended with two shocking wins that locked them into the No. 2 pick and unlikely to draft generational QB talent Trevor Lawrence.
The head coach (for now) called the season “not good enough,” and that may be what Johnson has to say about a Gase tenure that stands at 9-23 after a 7-9 rookie year in 2019.
“It definitely wasn’t what we thought; I know we had some adversity to overcome, and I’m sure when we look back at it, we’ll wish we had done some things different,” Gase said of the season. “But, this is where we’re at right now. It just wasn’t good enough.”
Gase is 32-48 in four years as a head coach in Miami and New York – he was fired by the Dolphins after three seasons, after a 10-6 2016 squad regressed to 6-10 and 7-9 the next two years – but he has already reportedly been linked to another job if this one goes away, rumored to be a candidate to replace the departed Jedd Fisch as quarterbacks coach in New England.
Quarterback Sam Darnold, who himself has a questionable future in New York, hopes both he and Gase are around in 2021.
“I’m not going to deal in hypotheticals,” Darnold said after Sunday’s game. “It’s not my decision, but I love Adam as my coach.”
If Gase is fired, though, he would be the second straight Gang Green boss to be canned coming off a loss in Foxboro; his predecessor, Todd Bowles, was fired just hours after the Jets’ season-ending loss at New England in 2018.
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