Jets' Adam Gase Didn't View Pulling Jamal Adams from Browns Game as Benching

New York Jets head coach Adam Gase insisted he didn't bench safety Jamal Adams during Monday's 23-3 loss to the Cleveland Browns. 

"I thought he was getting fired up pretty good, and I clicked over [to the defensive coaches] and I was like, 'Hey, we need to be careful here,'" Gase said while explaining why he took Adams off the field late in the fourth quarter, per Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. "I was worried that something bad was going to happen, we need him for the next week. They were smart and they pulled him off. I said, 'Just calm him down,' and then we were off the field."

Cimini noted Adams appeared on WFAN radio on Tuesday and said "Yeah, I got benched. They benched me."

Gase responded to the suggestion: "To me, I didn't look at that as benching. That was more like, 'Hey, let's just calm him down.' There was no hidden meaning behind it. That was my gut reaction."

Adams is not someone who is accustomed to being on the sideline after appearing in all 16 games in each of his first two seasons in the league. He is one of New York's best overall players and made the Pro Bowl in 2018 behind 115 tackles, 3.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, an interception and a fumble recovery.

He is one of the lone bright spots for a Jets team that was 4-12 last year and is already 0-2 this season, and keeping him healthy long term is far more important than whether he was on the field in the closing minutes of Monday's blowout loss.

Things won't get much easier in Week 3 with a showdown against the AFC East rival New England Patriots.

Sam Darnold is out with mono, and Trevor Siemian was ruled out for the season with a leg injury, so there will be even more pressure on Adams and the defense to contain Tom Brady and Co. on the other side.

Having Adams on the same page as the head coach going into the showdown figures to be important, and Gase said he spoke with the LSU product to clear up any misunderstandings.