LANDOVER, Md — Sam Darnold burst into Adam Gase’s office three weeks ago, cheeks beet red. He had something he needed to say, but he wasn’t sure how to express it or how it would be received. The Jets were losing, and Darnold was struggling. This offense, supposedly coached in the direction football was going, was stuck in reverse. Darnold had enough and had kept quiet far too long. So he sat his coach down. He requested they go over the playbook. Darnold told Gase precisely what he liked, then what he didn’t. He went over the plays and concepts he felt his teammates ran effectively and those they needed to throw out. He was open. He was honest. And when he was done, he looked like a kid who stood up to his Dad for the first time. Gase, seated across the desk, smiled at his 22-year-old quarterback. “It’s about damn time,” he said. The Jets are 2-1 since that meeting, highlighted by Sunday’s 34-17 beatdown of the Redskins. Their record now sits at a not as embarrassing 3-7. But more importantly, Gase’s scheme is evolving into Darnold’s offense. The Jets’ first-year coach always had an open door policy with Darnold (and all players). The two talk weekly about game plans, schemes and tendencies. But through the first portion of the season, Gase did most of the talking. He explained to Darnold what he wanted. He explained to Darnold how plays were designed to work. It was him, and mostly him, doing the leg work. Darnold sat there. And Darnold listened. It wasn’t yet time for him to speak. Unlike so many young quarterbacks who experience legitimate jumps in their second seasons, Darnold didn’t have the luxury of continuing his rookie year development. Not exactly, at least. The Jets fired Jeremy Bates, the one tasked with overseeing Darnold’s development during his rookie season, when they let go of Todd Bowles. So instead of building, Darnold hit reset once the Jets hired Gase. A new playbook. New calls. New line adjustments. A new way of doing things. Back to Square 1. While 13 starts as a rookie gave Darnold somewhat of a running start, there was going to be a learning curve. Expectedly. But unfortunately for Darnold, his development came to a halt with his mononucleosis diagnosis in September. Those four weeks and three games missed stunted his growth within Gase’s scheme. It was tough for Darnold to speak up and critique when he was still figuring out what he needed to do. So he just listened. As much as Gase wanted Darnold to speak up, Gase couldn’t force him. Gase needed him to get there in his own time. The moment Darnold walked into Gase’s office, it signaled they’d crossed that significant point. Now, instead of teaching, they could build and sculpt. Darnold returned from mono against the Cowboys on Oct. 13. He then quarterbacked the Jets against the Patriots and Jaguars. He completed 55 of 94 passes (58.51 percent) for 642 yards with four touchdowns, eight interceptions and a quarterback rating of 58.0. The Jets went 1-2. In his past three games against the Dolphins, Giants and Redskins, Darnold completed 65 of 99 passes (65 percent) for 783 yards with six touchdowns through the air, one on the ground, two interceptions and a quarterback rating of 101.54. The Jets are 2-1. “You can tell he’s feeling more comfortable,” Gase said. “He knows what he likes, knows what he doesn’t like, and he’s not afraid to say it. He’s taking more control of everything. On the field, off the field, in the meeting rooms, in film study and in practice. “Any time your quarterback gets like that, that’s a good thing for us.” Darnold reached his performance crescendo against the Redskins, becoming the youngest quarterback in team history to throw four touchdowns in a game. He completed 19-of-30 passes for 293 yards. His lone mistake: a boneheaded interception on a pass he sailed high for Ty Montgomery on a screen. With the offense tailored more toward Darnold’s strengths, the quarterback’s footwork improved. Gase drew up a slew of bootleg passes to get Darnold on the move. He called quick passes to set the tempo. Darnold moved from within the pocket to stave off Redskin defenders and buy his receivers extra time. He extended the play, then improvised with reserve tight end Daniel Brown for a first-quarter score. He did the same later in the game for a 45-yard hookup with another tight end, Ryan Griffin. The Jets offense set season highs with 400 yards and 34 points scored. They eclipsed 100 yards rushing for the first time, gained 23 first downs and converted 42 percent of their third downs. “When he was sick, it was tough,” said Griffin, who caught five passes for 109 yards. “It’s coming around now and we’re getting it down at the right time.” Context is everything. As good as Darnold has looked the past two games, he did so against teams with a combined record of 3-17. New York’s schedule gets a bit tougher from here. Next week, the Jets host the Raiders, who, after beating the Bengals, are a surprising 6-4. Then it’s the cruddy Dolphins, followed by winless Cincinnati, then the Steelers (5-5), Ravens (8-2) and Bills (7-3). Darnold must continue trending upward against the stiffer competition. That will be the real tell. Even the harshest of Gase’s critics might just start to believe if the Jets upset the Raiders at MetLife. Either way, a few short weeks ago, that slate seemed daunting. Now, because of Darnold’s play, the outlook seems entirely different. And it all started when he walked into Gase’s office. “I think the whole offense is really getting a feel for the offense,” Darnold said. “I think, just getting in that rhythm and being able to understand exactly what’s going on out there really allows us to play a lot faster. “We’re just playing with a lot better rhythm, but I think it’s on us to go out there and execute, and I think we’ve been doing that the past couple of weeks.” https://theathletic.com/1385992/201...m-gase-has-helped-the-jets-gain-some-footing/
Gase: Any questions? Reporter: Yes. How did Sam Darnold enter your office before the Dolphins game three weeks ago? Did he knock and enter calmly? Gase: No, he burst in. Reporter: And were his cheeks normal-looking? Gase: They were red. Reporter: Cherry red? Gase: Beet-colored. Reporter: Interesting. And he proceeded to lie to you? Gase: No, he was honest. Reporter: How can you be sure? Gase: I always polygraph my players during meetings. He was honest. You can print that. Reporter: Ok. Now I'm wondering how Sam looked at the end of the meeting. Gase: Who cares? Reporter: Well did he look like a girl getting dressed for the prom? or more like a boy standing up to his dad for the first time? Gase: I don't know. The boy one, I guess? Reporter: Great, thanks.
I'm sorry but why did it take Sam having to get fed up and frustrated to then point out what should've been obvious to an experienced HC? Why didn't Gase see/know these things? This is exactly the issue I have with him. Yes, great, he listened to Darnold and made changes that have led to improvement and winning, but shouldn't he have been able to do that without Darnold getting pissed off?
It seems like Gase is one of those "masterminds" who has a ton of plays at his beckon call. Threw a ton at Sam and there were a few times after losses where he would blame himself for crappy playcalling. Gase also mentioned that he wanted Sam to own this offense as well...to make it his own. And Sam knows what the pulse of what they do well as a team but more importantly what he feels comfortable with. And I know what you're gonna say...he's the coach and OC, he should know this! I fully agree...In this instance, throwing this playbook at him and Sam saying, this is what works and better for him makes it easier for Gase to know what Sam is thinking and vice versa especially as a young kid who would just roll with what the coaches say, SD is now having his say in things.
I must have missed those confessions. If Gase admitted making mistakes at all, it was buried in the generic "we", as in "We need to do a better job of...", not "I need to figure out how to create a game plan that these guys can successfully execute". In an attempt to be "fair and balanced", I'll venture this: it may be that Gase - up until now - hasn't realized how to work with young, inexperienced QBs, and made too many assumptions about how well they can absorb things. Perhaps now, finally, after seeing the abysmal results of his "genius", he finally understood that he has to adjust his expectations and assumptions.
Nothing beats the "crawl to my office Mr Million Dollar FQB" approach..Only then can we have a real discussion?? Of course, now that things are clicking no one really cares that Gase has delusions of Bellichek grandeur
I get the "Why did Gase take so long?" narrative. But a young QB playing in his what, 13th game?, generally feels 'most comfortable' running the same plays he ran in college. A QB whisperer knows this and tries to grow his young grasshopper into plays and scheme he's never seen or ran before. It would have been hard for Sam to know what aspects of Gase's offense he liked and didn't like before he even ran them. The 5 or so games Sam played in Gase's system were not a lot of games. At this point in Sam/Gase era, it's Sam's job to run the plays Gase gives him while working on his footwork, ball security, looking off a safety, etc. Arron Rogers and Mike McCarthy were having those same battles in GB for years. "I like this", "No, try this", "blah blah blah". Sometimes the plays a QB hates in the beginning become his bread and butter plays they love later on. Sam shoulda shut up, run the plays, and worked on getting better. Putting handcuffs on Gase 5 games into their marriage probably isn't the best long term. Sam still has a lot of growing to do, not settling into a handful of plays he 'likes'.
I would’ve waited for him to come to me too. He was throwing a lot of picks on doo doo plays. For no reason, how would you know what’s working for him? How would you know what’s going on with him at all? It’s obvious Gase does approach him and talk to him. We saw that in the mic’d game. Darnold’s answer was “I’m seeing ghosts...” I don’t know what that means, but it indicates there’s something he needs to work out. I would’ve waited for him to come to me with what he needs too. Now...let’s see if it works out.
If I read one more of these inane fluff pieces, I'm going to throw up. Put together a respectable stretch of more than two weeks against teams with a better combined record than 3-17, and then we can talk about the special coach-QB bond.
The Raiders are a lot better than the Redskins or Giants. If they play competitively against them this Sunday, I might believe there's some validity. Otherwise...
2-1 since this happened. The one loss being against the awful dolphins the week after Sam burst in and spoke with Gase. This is written bc the jets are on a two game winning streak against two awful teams.
How Adam Gase has an office for any NFL team is mindboggling..If the Jets didnt hire him he wouldnt even be in the league right now.
