Douglas: ‘I have to do a better job'

On Nov. 3, Jets GM Joe Douglas held a press conference at the mid-season mark. Here are some excerpts from this 25-minute press briefing that was held online via Zoom:

Connor Hughes, The Athletic: Joe, how would you assess Sam (Darnold)’s play this season, and what do you think of his future with this team in 2021 and beyond?

Joe Douglas: Sam’s an ultra-talented quarterback. I really can’t say enough about his grit and his toughness. Ultimately, I have to do a better job of putting talent around Sam, and we have to develop some kind of continuity within the offense moving forward.

The silver lining is there are eight games left, and we have guys coming back healthy, and can do that over the last eight weeks of the season.

Al Iannazzone, Newsday: How do you assess the job Adam (Gase) has done?

Douglas: Again, I’m going to say, this is not all on Adam. I have to do a better job. I have to do a better job of surrounding him with better players and weapons. We’re in this together. I’m going through and trying to think of everything I can do to help Adam, and the goal is to get this fixed together.

Hughes: Do you think you made a mistake letting Robby Anderson walk in free agency?

Douglas: Yeah, Connor, I thought about Robby a lot. There are thousands of decisions that cross your desk during the year. I go back and look at what I could have done better in that specific situation. I thought our guys did a fantastic job of analyzing every position group’s market value leading up to free agency last year.