Just how bad was the manner of the New York Jets’ loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday? Even the coaches, who are supposed to be the steady leaders of the team, struggled to move past it.
Head coach Adam Gase admitted Wednesday that Sunday’s defeat was one of the most difficult of his entire coaching career, and added he was “pissed” and in a “funk” following the loss.
“At the start of my career, I heard that for seven years: You have 24 hours to get over it,” Gase said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN. “I think the only time I’ve ever been involved in a loss like this was to end a playoff game, so I could be pissed as long as I wanted to because nobody cares.
“It’s tough. It’s tough. Our players will do a good job and they will respond the right way. They have through this whole thing. As coaches, we have to do the same thing.”
There are understandable reasons for this reaction. The Jets are winless, and it looked like they had one in the bag if not for defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ all-out blitz call on a key final play. The call was so bad that Williams was fired the next day. It sounds like the rest of the coaching staff hasn’t yet forgiven that call, and if the Jets end up going 0-16, maybe they never will.
