Sam Darnold Making Progress, Willing to Wait to Return as New York Jets starter
New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold continues to improve from the shoulder injury that will keep him out of a second straight game this Sunday. He says he feels better but had no definite timetable for his return.
“I’m progressing,” Darnold told reporters Wednesday. “Just taking it one day at a time right now. I feel like the shoulders gaining a ton of range of motion, which is good. But again, just taking it one at a time right now.”
Darnold suffered the injury two weeks ago in the Thursday night loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 4. Darnold came back and finished that game, but missed last week’s loss to the Arizona Cardinals as the sprain to his AC joint continued to need rehab.
The Jets are 0-7 in games not started by Darnold since he was named the starter two seasons ago.
"I think he's better than what he was last week," head coach Adam Gase said Wednesday. "I think the more time you give him, the better he'll feel. I think he's taking the steps that we need him to take to allow us to take it into next week. We'll make that decision when we get there.”
Joe Flacco will start for the second straight week. In two appearances this season, the former Super Bowl MVP has completed just 57.1 percent of his passes for 211 yards. He has a touchdown pass and no interceptions.
Week 5 represented his first start since Week 8 of last season.
On Tuesday, the line on this Sunday’s game at the Miami Dolphins was eight. The news of Darnold being out combined with the Tuesday night release of running Le’Veon Bell and the line jumped to 10 ½.
Darnold has lost three of his four starts against Miami with four touchdowns and eight interceptions. Flacco meanwhile, is 6-0 in his career against the Dolphins with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. The last time Flacco faced the Dolphins was in 2017 with the Baltimore Ravens.
Darnold is hopeful that he will be back the following week when the Jets host the Buffalo Bills on October 25 at MetLife Stadium.
“I think he’s doing a good job of communicating and letting us know how he feels,” Gase said. “He’s being honest as far as his pain tolerance, his range of motion, how he feels, him being able to work on his throwing motion a little bit these last few days is a real big positive. I do think he’s a quick healer. There’s no doubt none of us would say he’s anything but tough. We just want to make sure that he’s good before we put him out there.”
