Safety Jamal Adams is optimistic the Jets are nearing an end to their playoff drought. He told reporters on Monday that, "We're not that far away. We're really not", following the Jets' win over Pittsburgh.
The Jets enter the final week of the regular season at 6-9, third place in the AFC East. It's the eighth consecutive season where they've failed to reach the playoffs, and the New York Daily News' Manish Mehta doesn't believe the Jets will return to their winning ways unless Adam Gase changes.
"They will not win with the way Adam Gase currently handles business and how he conducts himself," Mehta told WFAN's Joe Benigno on Tuesday. "If he grows - and this is what I said when he got hired - I thought if he grew and learned from his past failings that they could win with him. I still feel that way, I just don't know if he's going to change because he has not given any indication to anybody behind the scenes that he wants to change or has any desire to change and getting his second contract is a big part of that."
"He's told people over and over that getting that second deal, the guaranteed money, that no matter what happens to him has emboldened him to continue to pursue in a manner that he was handling himself in Miami. That to me is dangerous and that's troubling for not only the team, specifically it's troubling for the quarterback ... I thought (Sam Darnold) would make a bigger jump in his second season and let's forget about the three games early in the season when he was sick. He has made improvements without a doubt, but he hasn't made the significant leap I'd thought he'd make with Gase. That, to me, is potentially a red flag.
Benigno believes Darnold's production, or lackthereof, is due to the Jets' offensive line.
"I agree with you there," Mehta said. "There needs to be upgrades. There will be upgrades. You mentioned what do you have confidence in? I immediately went to Sam Darnold. I have a lot of confidence in Gregg Williams. I know you're one of his biggest fans and rightfully so.
Rookie cornerback Bless Austin was benched on Sunday after he surrendered a touchdown in the dying moments of the first half. Benigno thought it was "tremendous" that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams made the decision to bench Austin, who "was playing well."
"He's the head coach of the defense," Mehta said "The Jets have two head coaches. Don't make any mistake about that. The defensive players view Gregg Williams as their leader and rightfully so. You've been around - you've seen this happen and you've seen success happen in this type of format.
"I just would hope Adam Gase would be a little more engaged with the defense. I felt the same way frankly early with Rex, I thought he should be more engaged with the offense ... There have been a couple of times in the spring where Adam Gase wasn't even watching the defense. He actually left the field while the defense was still practicing. That, to me, is what an offensive coordinator does. That's not what a head coach does. That's just one example of something I think needs to change with Gase moving forward."
Click the audio player above to listen to Joe Benigno's interview with Manish Mehta in its entirety.
