LANDOVER, Md — Sam Darnold burst into Adam Gase’s office three weeks ago, cheeks beet red. He had something he needed to say, but he wasn’t sure how to express it or how it would be received.



The Jets were losing, and Darnold was struggling. This offense, supposedly coached in the direction football was going, was stuck in reverse. Darnold had enough and had kept quiet far too long. So he sat his coach down. He requested they go over the playbook.



Darnold told Gase precisely what he liked, then what he didn’t. He went over the plays and concepts he felt his teammates ran effectively and those they needed to throw out. He was open. He was honest. And when he was done, he looked like a kid who stood up to his Dad for the first time.



Gase, seated across the desk, smiled at his 22-year-old quarterback.



“It’s about damn time,” he said.



The Jets are 2-1 since that meeting, highlighted by Sunday’s...