Content available exclusively for subscribers
The Chris Mortensen story was interesting.
“Jets coach Adam Gase is under more intense scrutiny this week and it’s not just the external noise from media or fans. League sources say even w/ injuries, Jets’ brass monitoring this week closely, today vs. Colts but perhaps more telling is TNF vs. Broncos. Interesting watch,” Mortenson tweeted Sunday morning.
Mortensen has a strong relationship with agent Jimmy Sexton, who represents both Gase and Jets GM Joe Douglas.
What does “Jets brass” really mean? I find that part of this story confusing.
The way the Jets are structured, as I’ve written myriad times as a problem, is the president, GM and head coach are all equals, and report to Christopher Johnson. The team president handles the business, the GM picks the players and the head coach coaches the team. None of them report to each other.
So team Hymie Elhai and Joe Douglas aren’t empowered to be “Jets brass monitoring” Gase. They are his equals.
So the only people who are over Gase are Christopher Johnson, perhaps Woody Johnson in England, and the man who manages their money, Ira Axselrad.
So I’m not 100 percent sure what “team brass” means in this situation. Are Gase’s two equals, Elhai and Douglas, monitoring him? For any of you in the corporate world, wouldn’t that be odd?
But the bottom line is if the Jets make a coaching change, Douglas needs to pick the interim coach, and then the next head coach. That’s a no brainer. The business people need to stay out of it.
Clearly the Jets need no more business people making football hires! That approach obviously needs to be in the rearview mirror . . .
This was another game today where the Adam Gase and Sam Darnold are both to blame for the team’s offensive debacle. 50-50 again.
Who do you blame for that disastrous Pick Six on the Jets’ first offensive possession?
Both of them.
Anybody who thinks, that a one-on-one matchup between Indianapolis #1 CB Xavier Rhodes, and rookie free agent Lawrence Cager, in his first NFL game, is a good one, needs to reexamine their football worldview.
Who looks over and says – “Oh my goodness, Cager is on Rhodes, we gotta go there?”
The Colts’ other starting cornerback, Rock Ya-Sin, was out. So why would you force a pass to Cager on Rhodes, when Cager wasn’t close to being open? There had to be better options.
Somebody has to have the vision to say, “Don’t go there.” And I can’t totally blame Gase on this one, because once the play is sent in, and Darnold is at the line, and the helmet communication is shutdown, and he see a rookie free agent in his first game, against a three-time Pro Bowl player, you’ve got to have the common sense to avoid forcing a pass in there.
Crazy decision, not just because he wasn’t open, but due to the matchup.
Kind of like the decision to have Henry Anderson drop into coverage on tight end Mo Allie-Cox on a gain of 45 in the second quarter?
Just like having Frankie Luvu and Harvey Langi go into the Witness Protection program since Week One. They are two of the Jets most athletic defenders.
You could make a strong argument that the defensive coordinator is doing just as bad a job as the team’s offensive coordinator (who is Gase, even though Dowell Loggains has the title).
So if team does making an in-season coaching change, going to Brant Boyer might be the way to go over Williams, since his defense has been just as bad as Gase’s offense.
Look, I know this isn’t the most talented team around, but there are some really bad decisions going on, even with the framework of the current players have have . . .
One big issue for Sam Darnold is not only does he tend to lock on his first read, which helps defenders jump his routes, but he also has an elongated throwing motion (which concerned some scouts), and that is a double whammy.
And you saw that on his pick in the end zone by Rhodes.
Think about it. He’s staring at one guy, so defensive backs can easily read his eyes, but on top of that, the ball takes an extra split second to come out do to his windy delivery, so that gives the DB another advantage in jumping routes. Bird-dogging your primary receiver and a elongated delivery are a bad combination, and you saw that on display on that costly pick in the end zone.
September 27, 2020
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Monday.
