The Jets took their second-straight loss in Week 8, a 29-15 defeat at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Safety Jamal Adams was particularly emotional following the game.
The oft-team leader took a lot of the blame for the loss.
Early in the game, Jags quarterback Gardner Minshew found wide receiver Keelan Cole for a six-yard touchdown pass. That play in particular was something Adams addressed emotionally.
"I guessed wrong. I thought he was gonna run an out, but he didn't. It happens. People kinda expect me not to make a mistake in a way. It is what it is man. I'm out there trying to play ball, trying to make plays for this team. I anticipated wrong, I take the blame. I don't run from it, I don't run from any adversity. I'm a man. So I'm gonna take it, it is what it is," Adams said.
"I just want to win," Adams added. "All we can do is continue to work, continue to stay together in this room... We're focused on trying to win a ball game. It's tough, but we're going to battle."
While Adams is clearly a frustrated player in his locker room, Jets head coach Adam Gase said on Monday via conference call that he's not worried about keeping someone like Adams happy. Instead, he approves of the emotions.
"He feels like the rest of us do. He wears it on his sleeve. That's what I love about him. He's so competitive. He wants to win. To me, that's what's great about him is how he takes it to heart. It makes him sick when we lose, along with a lot of other people here," Gase said.
The coach added that Adams already has shown he can bounce back
"I think what he's done is he's gone back every Wednesday and he's reset and he's put his head down and went to work and he tries to bring guys along with him. It's all right for him to be banged up here for 24 hours but once we hit Wednesday, we've got to roll again," Gase said.
As Gase alluded to, he's a leader for the Jets and their defense, specifically.
On offense, that job belongs to quarterback Sam Darnold.
Darnold took responsibility for the loss much like Adams on Monday while speaking on ESPN's The Michael Kay Show, and like Gase, said he loves the fire to win inside Adams.
"No, I mean, if you're not tired of losing, something is wrong with you. Losing sucks, there's nothing worse than that. Everyone on this team is feeling that way," Darnold said.