New York Jets legend Joe Namath recently questioned the team’s daily leadership, specifically Adam Gase and the coaching staff.
Joe Namath recently sounded off on the New York Jets‘ latest ills. Joining Showtime’s “Inside the NFL,” Namath made it clear that he’s pulling for them as a fan but also believes the daily leadership needs to be questioned.
“You’ve gotta question the daily leadership,” Namath said. “The leadership, the coaching staff in its entirety has to be looked at, because I believe the players try hard every play. They’re getting evaluated, and in the locker room, teammates can look around that locker room and know who is focused in the meetings, in practice and in games. They can recognize the guys that really want it. It’s the leadership, they have to do something about that.”
The Jets’ 23-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams this past Sunday allowed the Jacksonville Jaguars to leapfrog them in the draft order. This, of course, means the Jags, and not the Jets, are in the driver’s seat to snag Trevor Lawrence.
Namath, the greatest Jet of them all, is stunned not only at the result of the game but the Lawrence situation as well.
“After watching them play the entire season up to that point, I didn’t figure they were gonna win a game,” he said. “Especially against the Rams that day. Naturally, I was looking forward to being in the No. 1 draft position being very advantageous for our team. So I was surprised.
“I’m not trying to talk down about Sam Darnold. He’s going to be in the league 15-20 years. Who knows. He’s a good player,” Namath said. “But this guy from Clemson, Lawrence, he’s special. He’s very special. I think I saw him out-run the secondary of Notre Dame last week. He’s got speed. He’s got touch on his pass. He’s smart. He goes everywhere. He hasn’t shown a negative that I’ve seen in the last few years. And when you get a chance to get an animal like that on your team with those qualities, I don’t know how you can say no.”
Adam Gase is 8-22 in his two seasons as Jets head coach. After his 23-25 mark with the Miami Dolphins (the state where Namath currently resides), Christopher Johnson and the Jets brass took a chance on the one-time Peyton Manning offensive coordinator.
Namath expressed more communication concerns.
“Well you know I watch television, I watch interviews, I’ve watched the way the communication goes between the coaching staff and the media, and I haven’t been comfortable,” Namath added. “I like Adam as a person. I know Gase from his coaching days down here. Just visiting with him, we’ve kept in some communication up until mid-season or a little bit later, and the communication with the media hasn’t been good. I look at those interviews all the time, and it’s not the kind of communication that gets in there. If that’s the kind of communication that’s going on between him and his team, I question that.”
Gase and the Jets have two more games on the 2020 slate. They’ll welcome in Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns for the final home game of the season this Sunday.
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