A lot of the time the first preseason game doesn't mean a whole lot to teams, but Adam Gase is using it as an opportunity to show off the new system he has with the New York Jets.
The first-year head coach Gase said the initial preseason game is always a little more exciting for him and some of the players because it's their first chance to go against other guys after going against the same teammates for a couple of weeks during practice.
From Brian Costello in the New York Post:
“It’ll be fun to watch our guys be able to go fully at somebody else,” Gase said. “You want to go against somebody else, different defense, different looks, different bodies. I think it’s fun for us as coaches for us to watch, especially when you have guys in their first couple of games, and they get a ton of playing time, and just seeing how they develop, seeing who reacts well under the lights.”
One of the big question marks for the Jets is in the secondary, and Gase knows that what system the team runs might depend on what the guys on the roster show during the preseason. Gase is looking for the guys called upon to run whatever system is called at a high level.
“It’s really, for me, it’s executing what’s called,” Gase said. “Whatever [defensive coordinator] Gregg [Williams] decides to go with, whether it’s, ‘Hey, we’re going to zone coverage,’ or ‘We’re going to play man coverage, we’re going to pressure.’ We’ve had to discuss a little bit of what we’re looking to do, whatever he calls, is executing what he calls first, but then how much are we around the ball? How many times are we touching the ball? How are we tackling?”
Gase and the Jets have a lot to prove this season and a first impression can make a big difference. They will kick off their preseason on Thursday night against the New York Giants.
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