Monday Whispers

One thing I didn’t get.

Well it is probably more than one thing.

But the Jets not throwing to Chris Herndon on Sunday made no sense for a couple of reasons.

First off, they were struggling offensively, so why no mix in the tight end?

But just as important, perhaps he finally broke out of his slump with two really nice catches, including a touchdown grab, against the Los Angles Chargers, so from a sport psychology standpoint, why not feed him the ball to help him continue the momentum he seemed to be gathering from the last game?

So to me, not throwing him the ball against Miami was a mistake.

With this particular head coach, sometimes you just don’t see that 30,000 foot view you want to see, that laser focus on details that separate the good from the great coaches . . .

Speaking of coaching decisions, a lot of people are wondering why the coach continues to feature 37-year-old Frank Gore at running back on a winless team?

Simple answer – because he can.

With the Jets’ corporate structure, the GM picks he players, and the coach decides who plays on game day.

So Joe Douglas isn’t empowered to tell Gase who to play, so even if he wanted to see speedster Ty Johnson or Josh Adams, there is nothing he can do about it.

Obviously Gase decided with La’mical Perine going on IR last week, that was the only young back they needed to look at, so with Perine out of the picture, it’s “The Frank Gore Show.”

Perhaps part of this is to help Gore’s legacy – more carries and yards to move up the NFL annals.

So the bottom line the Gase has the power to play Gore as much as he wants, and he’s going to do just that.

Why?

Because he can . . .

I was listening to the Atlanta Falcons-Las Vegas Raiders radio replay, and something that Falcons analyst David Archer said caught my interest in terms of QB play.

There was a throw from QB Matt Ryan to WR Russell Gage.

Ryan stayed in the pocket to the last second and took a big hit.

“He showed a lot of courage, waiting for things to sort out, knowing he was going to get hit,” said Archer.

How often does Sam Darnold ever do that? How often at the first sign of pressure, does he bail, and get out of the pocket? I’m not saying Darnold lacks courage. Not at all. He’s very tough, as he’s showing playing with his current shoulder injury. But he’s just too often, he’s too quick to abandon the pocket, and he rarely has plays like he one that Archer described . . .

This Alex Lewis situation is very dangerous for the Jets’ culture and locker room.

Lewis was scratched on Sunday due to a coaches decision. A reporter, who talked to Lewis, asked Gase today if the two had a “verbal altercation” which led to the benching.

Gase said he would not describe it as “verbal altercation.”

Let’s say Lewis got into a argument with Gase, who is clearly doing a poor job coaching the Jets, and this led to him being scratched, why let him do that?

Lewis, a Joe Douglas favorite, due to his toughness and leadership, who’s been a tremendous help to Mekhi Becton, like a coach on the field at the left tackle spot, was sat by a coach who is likely going to be fired at the end of he season?

You are allowing a temporary coach to make a move like that?

One long-time Jets observer said to me today: “Being 0-11 isn’t the most embarrassing part of this Jets season, it’s that Gase is still the coach.” . . .

November 30, 2020

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