Sam Darnold Is 'Not Sure' If He'll Play For the Jets Next Season
With four seconds remaining in Sunday's Jets-Patriots game, Sam Darnold connected with tight end Chris Herndon for an eight-yard completion.
New York had no timeouts remaining, so when Herndon was brought down before he could get out of bounds, the clock went on to expire and Week 17 officially transitioned into the offseason.
Darnold's final pass of the loss to New England won't be remembered. It's the 23-year-old's pair of costly interceptions in the second half that led, in large part, to New York's 14th and final loss of the season.
After the game, however, it was clear that the otherwise meaningless completion to close out the Jets' regular season finale was actually quite significant. It could be the final pass Darnold throws in a Jets uniform.
"I'm not sure," Darnold said when asked if he had played his final game with the Jets.
When Darnold was picked third overall in the 2018 NFL draft, this organization envisioned their franchise quarterback sticking around for far more than just three years. Much to their chagrin, however, Darnold hasn't been able to develop at the next level, struggling to bring life to the Jets' consistently ineffectual offense.
That was the case once again in 2020. Darnold finished the year with more interceptions (11) than touchdowns (nine). He had only two games where he threw for more than one touchdown, finishing the season with a 72.7 passer rating and 40.7 QBR, both the worst among qualifying quarterbacks.
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"I definitely didn’t play well this year," he admitted. "I think I can definitely play better in the future. I don’t think I’ve played well enough this year, I wasn’t consistent enough and that’s really it."
All year as he and his team have struggled, Darnold's confidence regarding the future has been a mainstay in press conferences with the media. Recently, he told reporters that he's certain his "best days are ahead" in a Jets uniform. Earlier in the year, he assured that he's hoping to be a "Jet for life" despite growing speculation that New York could draft his replacement next spring.
Asked to sum up his career with the Jets up to this point, Darnold declined to dive into the specifics. Rather than worrying about his future, he said he'd rather let Sunday's "bad loss" to the Patriots sink in and focus on watching some film so he can continue to learn and get better.
"I think I’m going to live in the moment and just, you know, talk to some of my teammates and coaches after the tough loss and go about it that way," Darnold said. "But I think whether I stay, whether I leave, whatever happens, I’ll deal with it when it comes."
Whether Sunday was in fact Darnold's final game as a Jet or not, his performance was indicative of this season as a whole. While he showed glimpses of greatness, setting a season-high with 266 yards through the air while rifling a touchdown pass with precision over the middle to his tight end earlier in the game, it was the handful of mistakes he made that resonate the most.
Nonetheless, at least Darnold's leading receiver has his back.
"I like Sam, man. Sam's really good," Jamison Crowder said after the game. "I think me and Sam have had a really good connection these last two years. Sam is a baller. He's young and still growing but he's definitely a baller and can be that quarterback for any organization for sure."
As the Jets begin their search for a new head coach, embarking on an offseason that's poised to be full of change, only time will tell if this quarterback will be back in green and white next season.
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