This Could Hold Sam Darnold Back From His Jets Return This Week

Jets quarterback Sam Darnold may have practiced on Wednesday, taking a big step closer to returning from his right shoulder injury, but there's still no guarantee he'll be ready to start on Sunday.

The consensus over the last three weeks has been that Darnold won't be back under center until he's reached a point in his recovery where he won't be at risk of any further damage. 

"I think that’s the point of sitting out last week," Darnold said on a conference call with reporters earlier this week. "It was to prevent any type of setback. If I were to get hit, I didn’t feel comfortable or confident enough yet in my shoulder to where, if it were to get hit, that I would be fine."

That brings New York to a question tht head coach Adam Gase is eager to find an answer to. At what point will Darnold not only be ready to play, but when will it be safe?

"I’m not worried about structural damage or something like that, it’s just whether or not how bad it’s going to hurt," Gase explained on Wednesday. "Is he going to be able to recover if he gets hit and gets driven to the ground? Is that pain going to be so much where he can’t go anymore, because that’s the last thing you want to have happen."

As Gase continues to have those conversations with Darnold, the coaching staff and even general manager Joe Douglas, the quarterback was able to prove on Wednesday that he's able to make the throws necessary to play again.

"He looked good," Joe Flacco said in a Zoom call after practice. "He was running around out there, throwing the ball well, his arm looked live. I mean that’s really most of what you can gather out there today. But I thought the ball looked like it was spinning and coming at guys, so I thought he looked really good."

Tight end Chris Herndon echoed Flacco, saying Darnold has been at the Jets' facility early and after hours working hard to get back onto the field. 

After Flacco and the Jets came up short in Los Angeles on Sunday, New York fell to 0-10 on the season and 0-10 in the last three years in games without Darnold. Nonetheless, rushing him back is out of the question. He may be throwing with some zip on the ball in practice, but you can't simulate taking a hit while scrambling or being slammed to the turf in the pocket.

Entering practice this week, as has been the case this entire month, the Jets are proceeding with caution.

"We’re going in there thinking that he’s going to be able to do quite a bit. We’ll eliminate any kind of unnecessary throwing. Sometimes during these special teams periods and things like that, a lot of throws are made in those periods. We’ll really limit those. Most of his throws will come either in individual or team periods."

Last week, Darnold was ruled out on Monday before Sunday's game against the Chargers, so this is already a good sign that he'll be ready to come back. Whether or not Darnold will be available against the Miami Dolphins this weekend will be decided later in the week. 

In the meantime, Darnold is taking this process one day at a time.

"I think I am nearing that point to where I finally have a little bit more confidence in my shoulder to be able to withstand a hit," Darnold said on Monday. "That’s a good thing. Even if it does get hurt again, which I don’t envision happening, the worst-case scenario is another two-to-three weeks."

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