Adam Gase looked the part, sounded the part, and acted the part.
The new Jets’ coach has his typical hat pulled down over his eyes and full beard.
Yet, he gets your wheels turning. He is a 180 from the previous pilot.
He and quarterback Sam Darnold believe the Jets can be a playoff team this season.
This is a team that would have to go from four wins to at least nine.
Start to believe.
There is a whirlwind of confidence and anticipation that has whisked around Gase, Darnold, Le’Vean Bell, and Robbie Anderson for starters.
Any remnants from the Mike Maccagnan debacle are gone.
It’s easy to notice the new atmosphere from a stagnant and uncertain one that hovered over them last season.
Energy is there and expectations are high.
Add first-round pick Quinton Williams to the mix, as he finally squared away his four-year, $32.5 million deal.
Bell has looked fresh and swift and believes a 500-touch season will definitely result in a deep post-season run.
“It was great energy,” said Gase. “A lot of different looks by the defense, shockingly. We’ve got a lot to clean up. It’s the first day. We’ve just got a lot better extremely fast.”
But Gase isn’t going to guarantee anything and plays it close to the vest.
He added, “We’re just trying to do a good job of making sure that we’re tight as a group and we learn each other. This is a new group, it’s not the same team from last year, it’s a different coaching staff, a lot of new coaches, some guys have worked together, and some guys haven’t. We’re all trying to really learn each other better than what we did in the spring. We weren’t all together. We were hit or miss as far as how many guys were here all the time, which is part of the offseason and now we’re all together and we just have to keep learning each other and keep finding ways to get better.”
Yes, getting better – the age old standard. It’s the same first-day script that can ignite the faithful.
In his own way, though, Gase sounds pretty convincing.
He stressed that it will be a daily grind, a day-at-a-time process.
Gase is right.
Stay the course and be patient.
There are plenty of signs that November, December, and January could be a lot of fun.