Jets general manager Joe Douglas looks at the end of 2019 and sees a beginning.
Douglas acknowledged that finishing 7-9 is “not where we want to be,” but praised the players and coaches for the second half of the season, when they went 6-2 after a 1-7 start.
“Going 6-2, that’s not luck. You don’t do that,” Douglas said. “It takes a group of guys that became galvanized and stuck together. … The plan moving forward is that is a launchpad for us. We’re going to take the success, the way we were able to win close games, to learn how to win close games, take that moving forward and build off that.”
Douglas has big task ahead of him. When he was hired in June, he held out for a six-year contract. There was a reason for that. He knows turning around this team won’t happen immediately. His two predecessors drafted terribly and made poor free-agent decisions that have set the team back.
Even though he probably knows how much work his roster needs, Douglas put a positive spin on the team’s young talent.
“I do think there is a strong core here of young guys, guys that can be the foundation of a lot of success moving forward,” he said. “Right now, I feel good about a lot of these young guys and their growth and their arrows pointing up, so we have to keep adding to the culture, we have to keep adding to the locker room, to the building.”
The Jets’ playoff drought has reached nine straight seasons and they are coming off four losing seasons in a row. The fans are restless and out of patience. Douglas said the goal every year is the Super Bowl, but stopped short of saying fans should expect a playoff team in 2020.
“I don’t think the fans should be happy with 7-9,” Douglas said. “I think the fans should be excited, should tip their cap to the way that this team stuck together. The people in this building, the men in that locker room, how they were able to bond, how they were able to put egos and feelings aside, really come together for the good of the team. Our expectations are to build off that and our expectation is to be better in 2020.”
Douglas praised the way second-year quarterback Sam Darnold handled adversity this season, bouncing back from mononucleosis and dealing with a rotating cast around him. Douglas also said he liked what he saw from head coach Adam Gase.
“Just the job that he did with this team … you guys have been around a long time, you know not many 1-7 teams finish 6-2 down the stretch,” Douglas said. “I can’t speak to how great a job Adam and his staff did and I really think that Sam and Adam formed a really strong relationship of open and honest conversation and I think you saw that kind of blossom through the end of the year.”
The 2019 season was filled with a few communication breakdowns, most notably Jamal Adams’ unhappiness at the trade deadline and Quincy Enunwa’s tweet-storm about getting fined. Douglas said he has had good conversations with both since then and acknowledged the team has to do a better job communicating.
“One of the things I can tell you is that communication is going to be a big thing that we improve on in the future,” Douglas said. “That’s going to be on me, that’s going to be on everybody and that’s going to be a big thing moving forward for the entire organization.”
Douglas said the organization will begin personnel meetings this week to make a specific offseason plan, but he was willing to address his bigger goal.
“What is our plan?” Douglas asked. “The plan is to create the best culture in sports.”