Adam Gase could have snapped. Who would blame him if he did?
The Jets head coach could have looked like a dead coach walking as he stood before his players last week and explained to them that their franchise quarterback, Sam Darnold, was going to be out indefinitely with mononucleosis, likely leaving them as a dead team walking.
This on top of the fact the Jets had lost starting receiver Quincy Enunwa for the season to a career-threatening neck injury and the team’s best defensive player and one of its prized offseason acquisitions, linebacker C.J. Mosley, was out with a groin injury.
Then losing Darnold’s backup, Trevor Siemian, to a season-ending left ankle injury in Monday night’s loss to the Browns, leaving them to play a third-string quarterback (Luke Falk) who’d been signed off the practice squad about 15 minutes earlier?
In case you hadn’t noticed, the 0-2 Jets have been mired in crisis for the better part of the past week. And it gets no better this week as they prepare to play a 2-0 Patriots team that not only has outscored its first two opponents 76-3, but annually treats the Jets the way the Harlem Globetrotters toy with the Washington Generals.
The Patriots have defeated the Jets in each of the past six meetings, in nine of the past 10 and 15 of the past 17.
In college parlance, the Jets have become the Patriots’ annual weakling Homecoming Day opponent.
Darnold. Enunwa. Mosley. No. 1 draft pick Quinnen Williams out with an ankle injury. Trumaine Johnson, the team’s $72.5 million supposed top cornerback, benched because he’s not deemed by the coaches to be worth $7.25.
It’s all enough to send Gase to the last seat at the local bar, slumped over and drowning his bad luck in a bunch of rounds of the brown stuff — neat.
But, by all accounts, Gase, in his first year here, hasn’t cracked or shown any signs of breaking. This a good thing. It’s the only way for survival around these parts, a vortex of losing (no playoff appearances in eight years and counting) that swallows up the weak and spits them out.
“He hasn’t wavered,’’ left tackle Kelvin Beachum told The Post on Thursday. “He’s been the same guy. It doesn’t look like he’s blinked at all with everything that’s happened. He’s stayed steady, he’s continued to communicate with the team, he’s continued to hold us accountable and he’s continued to preach the same message — everybody doing their job.’’
A Bill Belichick-ism: “Do your job.’’
Easy enough when you have Tom Brady at quarterback.
But with Falk at quarterback making his first NFL start Sunday at Gillette Stadium and a roster filled with holes at key positions because of injuries and lack of depth?
It’s enough to drive the most upbeat coach into depression.
Gase talked about learning to navigate through adversity by watching his former bosses — Nick Saban at LSU, Mike Martz in Detroit, Josh McDaniels in Denver, John Fox in Chicago.
“I learned a lot through those experiences,’’ Gase said. “For me, once we get through Tuesday and we hit Wednesday, I’m turning the page and I’m ready to go to the next game. My mindset goes right to 0-0. Like, if there was a bad experience on Sunday, you’ve got a chance to rectify it the next week.’’
Playing the Patriots on the road with a third-string quarterback and a depleted defense is a tall order for rectification.
“His attitude hasn’t changed,’’ guard Brian Winters told The Post. “It’s like nothing has happened to him, which is what you need in a head coach. He comes to work every day happy and ready to roll. He’s the first guy you lean on, so when you see a guy like him chipper and ready to roll, you feel like, ‘Hey, we’re good to go.’ ’’
Defensive lineman Leonard Williams said among Gase’s favorite sayings, the one that resonates most is: “So what? Now what?’’
Beachum’s interpretation of, “So what? Now what?’’
“It doesn’t matter who’s in there at quarterback, who’s in there at running back, who’s in there on the offensive line or linebacker,’’ he said.
Except it does.
Gase may well have had some moments in the past week when he’s screamed at the top of his lungs in the privacy of his car on his way home from work. Who would blame him?
But what he hasn’t done is show a single sign of “woe is me’’ to his players. And that, so far in his tenure as the 19th head coach in Jets history, has been his best virtue.