Le’Veon Bell has been in the NFL since 2013, but he’s never seen anything that resembles Adam Gase and Gregg Williams battling every day in training camp.
When the Jets made these hires, they essentially picked up two head coaches – Gase for the offense and Williams for the defense. Both Gase and Williams are brilliant football minds that go at it every day in practice. There’s no taking it easy when these two are on the same field.
The high level of intensity between the two has led to some skirmishes, including multiple fights between the offense and defense during the Jets’ practice on Monday. The competition between the two coaches has led to lively practices, with game-like intensity that includes trash-talking and violent hits.
Like Gase, Bell has been unafraid to chirp at Jamal Adams. Bell and Adams are the two biggest personalities on the team, so the trash-talking has caught on and has both units running their mouths.
“I love it because it’s competition,” Bell said. “You’ve got guys like Jamal on the other side. He’s literally like me but plays defense. That’s just two guys clashing. He’s going to get the defense going. I’m going to get the offense going. Now, the offense and defense are just clashing all practice. The ones, twos, threes, everybody. That’s only going to make our team better.”
While the Jets would probably prefer to keep the fights to a minimum, the rivalry between two brash personalities like Gase and Williams has had a positive impact on a young team during camp. Not only has team camaraderie improved, but practices with game-like intensity allow New York to be more prepared once the regular season rolls around.
The Jets are hoping that their competitive battles in practice bode well for an ambitious season. Until then, expect lots of fire at One Jets Drive.
