Earlier this season, veteran RB Frank Gore, 37, spoke about about his future in the NFL after 16 years. He was, however, committed to pushing the Jets to a victory this year. On Sunday he did exactly that.
"Man, I'm happy," Gore said after the Jets' 23-20 win over the Rams. "I'm happy because of the way the young guys come to work every day. Being in the league this long, to see these young guys come into work every single day and not look at the record. When you go to our practice and watch us, you wouldn't be able to tell we were a 0-13 team. I'm happy that we got the win."
Inwhat was marked as the team's best offensive performance of the season, against the NFL's No. 1 ranked defense, Gore was a key to the team's success. His 1-yard TD dive on fourth down early in the third quarter put the Jets on top, 20-3. Gore then helped to seal the victory when he caught a crucial third-down pass from Darnold that gave the Jets a first down and allowed the Green & White to run out the clock. Gore finished the game with 59 yards rushing and 1 TD.
"When they called the play, I told Sam to watch me over the middle," Gore said. "I saw No. 51 run out, so I went into the middle and Sam threw it to me. I made sure I made the catch and I knew if we got the first down, we could kill the clock and win the game. When I caught it I grabbed it like it was a baby to make sure it wouldn't come up."
Gore — who has been a steady veteran presence — still gets inspired by his younger teammates.
"It's been a tough run," Gore said. "Coming to practice with these young guys, they've been helping me. Once I see them come to practice, I tell myself there's nothing I can do but go hard. We've been helping each other; we've been working every day behind one another and every week. We've been getting close, but we finally got one against a good team that's chasing the playoffs."
