Jets fans are dreaming of the No. 1 pick in next spring’s draft, but the Jets themselves are not ready to tank for Trevor, or anyone else.
“That’s something that — nobody’s talked about that,” head coach Adam Gase said Wednesday.
The Jets dumped another veteran this week, releasing cornerback Pierre Desir on Tuesday. He is the latest veteran to be cut or traded by the team in recent weeks, joining Le’Veon Bell, Steve McLendon and Avery Williamson.
At 0-9, the Jets are turning their attention toward developing their younger players, which might make it look like they have given up on the season. But Gase and his players insist they are not thinking about Clemson’s star quarterback, Trevor Lawrence. They want to win a game, they hope this Sunday against the Chargers.
“We’re not really looking at the draft. We just want to win one game,” rookie tackle Mekhi Becton said. “That’s all of our mindset right now. We’re not caring about if we get the first pick. We’re not worried about that as players. We just want to go out there and win.”
Outside of the Jets organization, many fans want to see the team play well but lose, like they did against the Patriots in their most recent game.
The organization has made a decision to play its younger players. There are four potential rookie starters this week against the Chargers — Becton, wide receiver Denzel Mims, cornerback Bryce Hall and safety Ashtyn Davis. It’s five if you count punter Braden Mann. There are two more rookies with large roles off the bench: running back La’Mical Perine and linebacker Bryce Huff.
That kind of youth movement could raise speculation the Jets have packed it in for 2020 and are turning their attention toward 2021.
“We can’t worry about what anybody else thinks,” Gase said. “We know we’re trying to get guys better that are here and we’re trying to figure out ways to win games.”
Gase can’t think about 2021. He almost certainly will be fired after this season if the Jets do not turn things around over the final seven weeks. He said he is trying to put together the best game plan to win each week and does not see playing younger guys as a detriment.
“Some of these guys that are really young, they’re fun to coach because these guys, they’re all ears, they’re trying to do everything possible to put themselves and the team in the best position possible,” Gase said. “Last year was a good example of having success with some of these guys that a lot of people didn’t think were very good, and we were able to win some games because of it. We’ve just got to keep getting these guys better and find a way to win it at the end of game. When we get to the fourth quarter and it’s a close game, let’s go win one of these things.”
The decision to move on from Desir, who was terrible against the Patriots, clears the way for Hall, the team’s fifth-round pick, to start and play more. Going to the younger players is the smart decision, if not the one that will result in the most wins in 2020.
“We’re just trying to play young guys, we’re trying to get guys experience, we’re trying to make sure that we get guys out there and compete,” Gase said. “That’s one thing that I can say that I especially saw on Monday night, I mean these guys you watch these guys come off the field, whatever they have, they’re giving it. We’ve just got to figure out a way to finish these games to where we’re winning the game, we’ve got one more point than the other side.”