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Jets coach Adam Gase shuts down reported rift with GM: 'It kind of pisses me off'

New York Jets new NFL football head coach Adam Gase, center, speaks while team owner Christopher Johnson, left, and general manager Mike Maccagnan look on during a news conference in Florham Park, N.J., Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Adam Gase (middle) said he has been in constant communication with general manager Mike Maccagnan since he was hired, a response to reported rifts between the two. (AP)

It didn’t take long for reports to surface about an apparent rift between newly hired New York Jets coach Adam Gase and general manager Mike Maccagnan.

During the NFL draft, shortly after the Jets took Alabama defensive tackle Quinnen Williams with the No. 3 overall pick, reports swirled about issues between Gase and Maccagnan regarding offseason personnel decisions, among other things.

Maccagnan denied those reports quickly, and Gase followed suit Friday at the Jets’ rookie orientation, his first chance to meet with the media since the NFL draft.

“It kind of pisses me off a little bit, because we have discussions on everything,” Gase said on Friday, via USA Today.

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Maccagnan shut down those rumors in April, too, saying he and Gase “have worked very well together.”

"I'm sure there's, like in any process there's times where you work through the process — it's just like in a scouting meeting, you have different opinions of a player. But from my standpoint I've actually had a very good working relationship with Adam,” Maccagnan said in April, via USA Today. “And quite frankly, I've said this before, he has a very good sense of humor and kind of makes me laugh quite a bit, which is one of the things I really like about working with him.”

Gase was hired in January, and said he has “been in lockstep” with Maccagnan since taking over. He replaced former coach Todd Bowles, who won just 14 games and finished last in their division in his final three years at the helm.

“That’s our job, we have to work through so much stuff,” Gase said, via USA Today. “That’s what we’ve got to do. And that’s all we’ve done since we’ve been here, since we’ve started we just constantly were in communication, whether he’s coming out of my office or I’m going to his office. That’s all we’re trying to do is just make sure we’re on the same page all the time, making sure that — we’re trying to put this together as well as we can, in a short period of time.”

Even though their feud wasn’t true, Gase doesn’t mind arguing among one another in their meeting rooms. If they didn’t, things would get dull fast.

“If it wasn’t, what are we doing this for?” Gase said, via USA Today. “If everybody just agreed on everything it would be boring. You need to have a little excitement every once in a while.”

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