Even retired receiver Brandon Marshall, who said he loves Adam Gase, said, ‘If this continues, he has to go.’

An old buddy of Adam Gase’s was on the air this week. The friend had been on record saying how much he enjoyed playing for the New York Jets, so when he followed up by saying how fond he was of Gase, there was no doubt which side of the aisle he was on.

“Adam Gase, you’re my guy,” retired receiver Brandon Marshall said on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL.” “I love you, but if this continues, he has to go. He has to go. This is bad. We’re not even competing out there.”

It’s a good thing, one supposes, Gase has friends like these, because as brutal as Marshall was on a guy he played under in Denver, the rest of New York is torching Gase. Somebody should dial 911 and ask for Fireman Ed, because this man is on fire.

Anybody getting ripped this badly at home would logically be grateful to hit the road, but imagine how humbling it must be for Gase to be 1-6 as he returns Sunday to face his old team, the Dolphins.

Chances are, a segment of Dolphins fans are savoring the chance to jeer a coach who led a steady regression the past two years after making the playoffs in 2016. Chances also are there is nothing fans can say that hasn’t been topped by media critics in New York:

“A man who is not a leader in any way, shape or form.”

“Never seen anything this stupid.”

“Must be fired immediately.”

There’s plenty more. NFL coaches like to say they don’t open the paper to see what’s written about him. The Daily News made sure Gase doesn’t have to. Amid controversy over the handling of former Pro Bowl guard Kelechi Osemele, who ignored team doctors’ advice and underwent shoulder surgery, the paper ran Gase’s photo on its back cover with the headline “DR. DO-LITTLE.”

But it’s people inside the building who count, right? That’s the crutch NFL people — Gase included — subscribe to. Jets CEO Christopher Johnson was caught in a viral video telling a fan “hopefully the team will actually show up this week.”

It didn’t. Jaguars 29, Jets 15.

It’s no wonder, then, that when Gase participated in a conference call with the South Florida media Wednesday afternoon, the first question was, “You miss us?”

“I’m not going to comment,” Gase said, which could be construed two ways: 1) No or 2) Yes, but I don’t want to give these writers up here any more ammo.

“Those are things I can’t worry about,” Gase said. “I’ve got to worry about getting our guys ready.”

If only that’s all he has to worry about. Safety Jamal Adams — who’s 24 and a team captain — went on Twitter to deny asking to be traded. Then, after the trade deadline passed Tuesday, Adams tweeted that general manager Joe Douglas “went behind my back and shopped me around to teams.” Reports were that the Jets also shopped running back Le’Veon Bell, who in short order went from being the Jets’ free-agent prize to expendable, with a career-worst 3.2 yards per rush and ranking 28th in the NFL with 349 yards.

Jets fans woke up Monday morning to hear Boomer Esiason ranting on WFAN.

“This really has got Adam Gase’s fingerprints all over this now,” Esiason said. “He’s really controlling this franchise. I know there’s a general manager in name — and in name only — we haven’t seen nor heard from him at all. This is Adam Gase’s team. This is the mess that he’s created.”

Even the more-reserved New York Times ran a lengthy analysis of the Osemele situation under the headline, “Kelechi Osemele’s staredown with the Jets over a painful injury pulled back the curtain on the ugly reality of a league that views athletes as commodities.”

Gase admitted he hadn’t spoken to Osemele about the injury. Esiason said the “NFL Today” crew he works with at CBS on Sundays has hundreds of years of NFL experience and has “never seen anything this stupid in their lives.”

Gase need not turn on the radio or TV to know what’s being said about him. He comes face to face with it daily when questioned by reporters. An all-timer of a session occurred last week when one reporter grilled Gase.

1. Why would any player want to sign with the Jets and play for you?

2. What do you offer?

“I don’t have to sit here and answer these kind of questions from you,” Gase said.

Reporters might settle for quarterback Sam Darnold raising his passer rating above 66.2 (worse than Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 70.0) and the offense climbing out of the cellar, ranked even worse than Miami’s.

“Supposed quarterback whisperer,” frequent Gase critic Manish Mehta wrote in a Daily News column headlined, “Why should Jets fans trust or believe in Adam Gase?”

Perhaps surprisingly, on Wednesday, Gase rejected the idea he’s under the microscope in New York.

“No, that’s not how I feel about it,” he said. “I’m always focused on how can we go win a game that week.”

hhabib@pbpost.com

@gunnerhal

To sign up for a free Dolphins newsletter, click here.