Did Adam Gase learn nothing from his three-year run coaching in Miami?
Hired by the Jets in January 2019 less than two weeks following his Dolphins dismissal, Gase seems to be on course to leave a similar path of wreckage in New York.
Running back Le’Veon Bell is just the latest to have a run-in with a coach who has a track record of poor communication with key players. Bell, whom Gase said was pulled from Wednesday’s intrasquad scrimmage due to “tightness” in his hamstring, almost immediately went to Twitter to announce, “ain’t nothing wrong with my hamstrings.”
Even if the regular season opener in Buffalo is two weeks from Sunday, no one at One Jets Drive should be in panic mode. Gang Green, which is short on NFL-caliber receivers, had a boatload watching the scrimmage from the sidelines due to injuries.
What is concerning is that Gase and one of his team’s few high-profile players couldn’t get on the same page in such an immaterial setting. Gase obviously is aware of Bell’s sensitivities, as he said that Bell never wants to come out.
Feeding into any paranoia Bell may have, Gase has a clear fondness for Frank Gore, who the Jets signed in free agency to serve as Bell’s backup. The pair worked together in 2008 when Gase was an assistant in San Francisco and again in Miami in 2018.
Gase has often gushed about Gore’s relentless work ethic (to be fair, Gase has praised Bell for being in “phenomenal shape” too), even if he isn’t all that great any more. Gore, 37, is coming off a season in Buffalo where he ranked 26th among 29 running backs with at least 150 carries according to ProFootballFocus.com’s grading system.
In training camp, however, Gore has outperformed Bell, according to media reports. Gore’s straight-ahead style seems to be a better fit with how Gase wants his running game executed than what the more patient Bell brings.
I could see Bell viewing this as a case of favoritism and being set up to fail by his passive-aggressive coach. Whatever you think of Bell, this is nothing new when it comes to Gase and his relationship with players. Remember what All-Pro safety Jamal Adams told the Daily News before he was traded to Seattle last month.
“I don’t feel like (Gase) is the right leader for this organization to reach the Promised Land,” Adams said. “As a leader, what really bothers me is that he doesn’t have a relationship with everybody in the building. At the end of the day, he doesn’t address the team. If there’s a problem in the locker room, he lets another coach address the team.”
In Miami, Gase had communication issues with several players, including star receiver Jarvis Landry and running back Jay Ajayi (in addition to a spat with owner Stephen Ross).
Hmm, see a pattern? This sort of thing doesn’t seem to happen in New England with the gruff Bill Belichick, or at any functional organization.
This is not going to end well, for either party. Prior general manager Mike Maccagnan may have gifted Bell a four-year, $52.5 million contract as a free agent last offseason, but the guaranteed portions end after this season. There’s a fair chance that the Jets will then be willing to eat $4 million in prorated bonus dead money against the 2021 salary cap by cutting Bell.
Jets fans should only be so lucky if Gase follows him out the door.
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