MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 30: NFL running back Frank Gore of the Buffalo Bills speaks onstage during day 2 of SiriusXM at Super Bowl LIV on January 30, 2020 in Miami, Florida. New York Jets
(Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM )

Frank Gore has been a strong leader throughout his career. He’s not going to let COVID-19 stop him from doing the same for the New York Jets. 

During a press conference Friday afternoon, New York Jets head coach Adam Gase couldn’t stop himself from praising Frank Gore. The veteran running back has been hailed a strong leader and a great mentor for years now. It’s one of the reasons Gase promised to bring Gore wherever he went as a head coach. That leadership is still evident even over Zoom.

Gase wasn’t the only coach impressed with Gore. Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains heaped the praise on the veteran running back as well.

Gore’s role for the 2020 season is still up in the air. The future Hall of Famer is currently expected to be Le’Veon Bell‘s backup, and that usually means limited duty. In 2019, Bell’s backups had a combined 99 carries. Bilal Powell led the way with just 59 carries.

Gore has never had fewer than 127 carries in a single season in his career. That said, his carries have been coming down in the last two seasons. He had 156 carries in 2018 and 166 in 2019. Those are the second and third least carries in Gore’s career.

Even then, he’s still getting nearly triple the carries Powell had in 2019. Is this a sign that Bell’s workload will be less in 2019? It might be, but it could also be a sign that the Jets wanted more leaders in their locker room.

General manager Joe Douglas has talked at length about making the Jets’ locker room the best in the NFL. Frank Gore’s leadership abilities should help with that. It also doesn’t hurt that he’ll mentor rookie fourth-round pick, Lamical Perine.

Whether or not Gore actually sees time on the field, it’s clear he’ll have an impact in New York. With a strange season coming up, every team in the NFL could use strong leaders to help them push through these unprecedented times.

A contributor here at elitesportsny.com. I'm a former graduate student at Loyola University Chicago here I earned my MA in History. I'm an avid Mets, Jets, Knicks, and Rangers fan. I am also a prodigious prospect nerd and do in-depth statistical analysis.