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Maybe you shouldn’t go there.
I’m sure some of you have seen this quote from C.J. Mosley about Adam Gase. It was from a Wednesday conference call with reporters and was in all the papers.
“He’s going for that one team (New England) that’s been winning every single year in this division,” Mosley said about Gase. “He said that is one of the main reasons he came here and we all believe that. And the guy who are new additions to the team, we’re pretty much here for the same reason.”
Why go there? Should the Patriots really be the focus right now, in April?
If you are focusing on any team right now, and I’m not suggesting you should in April, it should be the Buffalo Bills, their Week One opponent. That was announced yesterday.
I know “one game at a time” is cliche, but in football, it’s a good approach.
But you know what, they probably shouldn’t be focused on any opponent right now. The focus should be on learning the new playbooks on offense and defense, and getting stronger in the off-season workout program.
Alabama coach Nick Saban is a big believer in “process thinking.”
What is “process thinking?”
You focus on the very next task at hand, whether it’s the next lift in the weight room, or the next rep in practice, or the next film meeting.
Right now, in the Jets’ world, the focus seems to be on their Week Three opponent.
And aside from looking too far ahead, the problem with Gase talking about New England now, is that Belichick will take note of it, and use it for bulletin board fodder before they face the Jets.
If you don’t think the Patriots aren’t into bulletin board fodder you are kidding yourself.
Tom Brady was obsessed in the playoffs that people thought they “sucked” during the regular season. He talked about that over and over on the road to another Super Bowl win.
Believe me, the Patriots are going to use what Mosley said.
“[Gase] came here to win,” Mosley said. “At the end of the day, the Patriots have shown who we have to beat to get to that spot. Not overlooking anybody else in the division or anybody else on our schedule, we know for us to get to where we want to be – we know team we have to knock off.”
Maybe, but that should not be the focus now, especially since the Jets don’t even know if they have the quarterback who can go to toe-to-toe with Brady. And generally the only teams that truly have a shot against Brady and the Patriots are clubs that have a franchise QB.
You need a QB who can keep up with Brady on the scoreboard, otherwise you are playing checkers and the Patriots are playing chess. Otherwise you are bringing a knife to a gun-fight. Like we say in Week 17.
Does Sam Darnold have the potential to be a franchise QB? Yes. Is he there yet? No. And that is why Gase was hired, to take him there. But until he truly gets there, no matter how much the Jets’ social media department promotes Darnold, it’s jumping the gun to call him a franchise QB right now.
So now Gase should focus all his energies on developing Darnold, and installing and teaching his offensive playbook, and not worry about New England.
The only team his staff should focus on eventually is Buffalo in Week One. Team often spend months game-planning that first game.
Focus on New England when Week Three arrives.
Not in April.
April 18, 2019
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