Adam Gase loves the four-game preseason

[Broadway Joe]

Plenty of players and coaches are weighing in this time of year on the relative unimportance of the preseason.

But Jets coach Adam Gase is willing to bravely stand against the tide, and defend the sanctity of the four-game exhibition season.

Via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, Gase said he sees great value in having four chances to grade his 90-man roster.

“I like the fact that it gives a chance to evaluate,” Gase said. “That fourth preseason game, all those guys that get to play, we get value out of that. We’re not trying to see if we can shorten the game up. We’ll probably try to throw it like 60 times.”

Of course, his love is conditional, as he admitted he’d view it differently if his roster was different. Noting the veteran-led Rams held starters out the entire preseason, Gase said the Jets don’t have that luxury.

“Everybody’s different,” Gase said. “Sometimes it’s, how old are your players? Do you have an older team or a younger team? First-year program, third-, fifth-year program? It changes over time. If this was year five, it might be different than it is in year one. It just can change. . . .

“Last year, I remember having a conversation with [McVay] about his starters not playing and they had an older team. They had a lot of guys that had played a lot of football. That’s kind of how they went about it. We have a young team and this is our first year in the program, so we need to play a little bit.”

Once he installs his systems, he may come to a different view of how much time his team needs. But for now, he seems to want all the time he can get.