A recently shaven Adam Gase caused most of the ruckus on an otherwise slow holiday Monday in Florham Park. Gone was the beard that had grown almost since the day he was introduced as the Jets new coach. It’s a look that wasn’t welcomed by all.
“I told him today, you look like a totally different dude,” guard Brian Winters said. “He said, ‘I don’t like it.’ So I think he’s going to rock the beard for the rest of the season.”
Gase even hinted it might not have been his best idea.
“It felt right at the time,” he mused.
Beard or no beard was apparently among the many decisions Gase and the Jets faced over the weekend while whittling their roster down to 53 players plus the practice squad. Expect more tinkering before Sunday’s regular-season opener against the Bills at MetLife Stadium, but the nucleus is set and ready for the 2019 debut.
No one is happier than quarterback Sam Darnold, who has high expectations for a Jets offense he expects to be “electric” even though center Ryan Kalil and running back Le’Veon Bell will be seeing their first action of the season.
“We’re going to do some fun things out there with all the tempo and different things we can do,” Darnold said. “It’ll be fun to watch us and hopefully we’re going to put up a lot of points.”
That would be the best case scenario, but that’s usually not how football works. Kalil didn’t play the entire preseason. He retired in December after 12 seasons with the Panthers, but decided to accept the Jets’ one-year deal. Bell, also held out of action during the preseason, hasn’t played since 2017 after electing to sit out all of 2018 in a contract dispute with the Steelers.
With Kalil orchestrating the offensive line and Bell being such a crucial part of the offense, it figures to take time for everyone to find a rhythm though the Jets don’t seem concerned.
“It’s not that I’m expecting there to be growing pains, but if there are we’re just going to roll with them,” Darnold said. “We’re going to play it one play at a time and if something happens during the course of a series I’ll go to coach Gase and we’re just going to figure things out. Right now we have a good foundation where we want to go.”
Bell might be making the biggest debut by a Jets running back since LaDainian Tomlinson joined the team in 2010 after nine seasons with the Chargers. But Tomlinson was 31 when he joined the Jets for the final two seasons of his Hall of Fame career. Bell is 27 and healthy after sitting out a season.
After signing Bell to a four-year, $52 million contract, the Jets would welcome what he averaged his final two seasons in Pittsburgh: 1,280 yards rushing, 636 receiving and 10 touchdowns.
“He’s such a talent, not only running the ball, but catching the ball out of the backfield and lining up wide and running routes,” Darnold said. “I’m excited to see him live in a game and I know a lot of guys are as well.”
The only speed bump might be the Bills acquisition of quarterback Davis Webb, who was among the Jets’ first cuts. Stop laughing.
Webb, who was cut by the Giants last fall, wouldn’t be the first player signed primarily because he was with a team’s next opponent. He’ll be asked to divulge all he knows about the Jets and impersonate Darnold on the scout team. Good luck with that.
No one has seen the Jets offense that will take the field Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium. Will it be “electric” enough to shock the Bills?