Adam Gase on Jets' CEO Christopher Johnson amid Struggles: 'He Deserves Better'

The New York Jets are 0-13 this season and looked poised to finish the 2020 season without a single win. 

Amid that startling mediocrity, head coach Adam Gase said he feels he's let down team CEO Christopher Johnson. 

"He knows how I [feel]," Gase told reporters. "I've told him multiple times. He deserves better, especially with how he is with our players, our staff, coaches...anybody involved in this organization. I mean, I couldn't ask for to work for a better guy."

Gase's time in New York is likely drawing to a close. In his two seasons with the Jets, the team is 7-22. And in his entire run as a head coach, including his three seasons leading the Miami Dolphins, he's had just one winning season (the Dolphins went 10-6 in 2016).

When asked directly if he has let down Johnson, Gase answered in the affirmative:

"Yes. You try to figure out where things went wrong and what we can change. It's like you're trying to evaluate things as you go and adjust. ... But at the end of the day, it's about winning. We haven't done that. For him not to feel a playoff feel, of being competitive in December, it's disappointing to me that we haven't been able to do that for him."

It likely won't be just Gase that will get an address change this offseason. The team is also on track to finish with the worst record in football and the top pick in the 2021 NFL draft, meaning they'll be in position to select Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. 

That would likely mean the end of the road for Sam Darnold, who has disappointed since being the No. 3 overall pick in 2018. The 23-year-old has thrown for 1,560 yards, five touchdowns and nine interceptions in nine games this season, completing a woeful 58.4 percent of his passes. 

He's regressed—another mark against Gase. 

"I came here to help him, help him develop his career, and we haven't been able to do that," Gase told reporters this month.

Gase has continued to defend Darnold, however.

"It's not just him. Everybody's got to do their job," he told reporters. "We need the line to do their job, backs to do their job, tight ends, wide receivers. He can make the right decision on his reads, but he can't catch it. He can't make the guys be in the right spots. We need all 11."

"He's doing the right things," Gase added. "We're having breakdowns around him."