Jets head coach Todd Bowles looks on after quarterback Sam...

Jets head coach Todd Bowles looks on after quarterback Sam Darnold throws an interception in the end zone at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 16, 2018. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The last few weeks have provided a loudspeaker on Todd Bowles’ deficiencies, both real and imagined. But a day after the end of another disappointing Jets season and Bowles’ four-year tenure, as players emptied out their lockers, the focus was on the coach’s virtues.

Many players liked Bowles, and many liked playing for him. And though his legacy with the Jets will be one of failure — he went 24-40 — it was clear that more than a few people were sad to see him go.

“I really liked Coach Bowles, from the moment I got here,” wide receiver Jermaine Kearse said. “The conversations we’ve had, I felt I’ve grown as a man. Today is just part of the business. It’s an unfortunate part of the business, but it happens. As players, we just learn and try to move forward.”

Bowles was routinely praised for his consistency and his ability to not give in to despair while his team was crumbling around him. The next coach, Quincy Enunwa said, will have to be a taskmaster. “No nonsense, in a way,” the receiver said. “Crack down.”

Enunwa, who was on the Jets for every year of Bowles’ tenure, said he planned to call him. He praised Bowles’ relative optimism, even in the face of the franchise’s eighth straight season without a playoff berth and weeks of speculation that he soon would lose his job.

“I think the most obvious thing [he taught me was] don’t get too high and don’t get too low, especially in this business,” Enunwa said. “He kind of showed that on the field, really the ability to stay stoic.

“A lot of people looked at it as a negative, but I think it’s huge for a player to see a coach not get too down when bad things are happening so you kind of know there are always good times ahead. He was able to show he was happy as well; it’s just the cameras never caught it.”

Added quarterback Josh McCown: “We worked so closely together over the last two seasons . . . I have just so much respect for Todd . . . You hate to see that. It’s heartbreaking.”

Linebacker Avery Williamson called Bowles “a great person, a great coach” and added, “I feel like he definitely . . . [brought] me to another level this year.  I don’t want to see Coach Bowles getting fired, but it’s a business at the end of the day. I like Coach Bowles, but he’ll be all right.”

Rookie quarterback Sam Darnold said he doesn’t know how involved he will be in the decision to hire a new coach, but he plans to speak to the front office soon. Losing his head coach after his first year in the league “is not a good feeling,” he said.

“To come up short and then to hear the news that Coach Bowles wasn’t going to be here anymore, it [stinks],” Darnold said, “and hopefully throughout my career here, it never happens again.”

But for all the regrets about Bowles, Enunwa said, “I’m definitely looking forward to a better future. Nobody really likes change, but I think we’re all able to adapt.”

 With Bob Glauber

SUBSCRIBE

Unlimited Digital AccessOnly 25¢for 6 months

ACT NOWSALE ENDS SOON | CANCEL ANYTIME