During an at-times contentious press conference on Thursday morning, Jets head coach Adam Gase didn't dispute the notion that he didn't see eye-to-eye at times with fired GM Mike Maccagnan. But he insisted the issues they had weren't personal.
"Me and Mike had disagreements on a few things, but there was no personal rift," Gase said. "That's wrong. ... "We can have disagreements -- it's part of the job. If we're not disagreeing, am I doing my job? If I agree with everything anybody else says in the building, am I doing my job?"
Earlier this week, Gase disagreed with the idea that the firing of Maccagnan -- with Gase serving as acting GM while the search for the new GM is ongoing -- was part of a power struggle orchestrated by Gase.
On Thursday, Gase said the decision to fire Maccagnan was up to Christopher Johnson.
Asked whether he had any input on the decision, Gase fenced a bit with the reporters.
"He called me and told me what we were doing. That's what happened," Gase said about Johnson and the decision to fire Maccagnan.
When a reporter followed up by asking if "that's a no" as it pertains to Gase having no input, the head coach and acting GM simply said "I just answered a question."
As far as the next GM, Gase deferred to Johnson, who he said would "make the decision," adding that the new GM doesn't have to be deferential to him.
"Whoever the GM is, they'll have final say. ... If there's ever a disagreement, our job is to hash it out."
Gase also got into why he recently fired a Jets scout, simply saying it's his job right now to do both roles and that there was "kind of a consensus" among others that the scout should be fired.
During a press conference where he seemed to be getting it from all angles, Gase -- who said he doesn't really hang around with "yes-men," summed it up simply:
"This is what I get paid for," he said. "I get paid to take all the bullets."