East Rufford, NJ – Winless New York Jets have a lot of problems. Add the injured quarterback to the list.
Sam Darnold sprained his right shoulder Thursday night in the Jets’ 37-28 defeat against the Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium. He finished the game after a physical attack on turf in the first quarter, but admitted he had a “painful” injury and appeared unwell in a postgame video call with reporters.
The Jets (0-4) made no predictions. They have a mini bye before facing the Arizona Cardinals on 11 Oct.
Darnold insisted he was “good” and kept taking it day by day.
“I had something like that too, so I wasn’t too worried,” he said. “Once they told me I could go out there again, I got excited.”
Duncan fired Dale in a daze after he was fired. He tried to play through it, but before he could walk up to the same play he went to the side and was immediately taken to the locker room for the exam.
He was replaced by Fla Blu, a former Broncos quarterback who started his jets. Flaco only played four pics before bearing fruit to Darnold.
Initially, coach Adam Gass thought it was a big injury.
“Yeah, the way he threw it down, I wasn’t sure,” he said. “I was trying to blueprint how the rest of the game was going,” with a flick on the quarterback.
A few minutes later, Darnold emerged from the locker room, threw a few warm-ups and rearranged the game.
Darnold faltered in the game as he was knocked out six times. Part of the reason was the revolving door on the left. Chuma Adoga was started for the injured Mekhi Becton, but due to a shoulder injury, Adoga only ran four plays.
Becton came off the bench and played 16 quicks, but he sharpened his injured left shoulder and had to meet Knorr McDermott.
Darnold played a solid game, completing 23 of 42 passes for 230 yards and running for a 46-yard touchdown – the longest scoring in franchise history for the quarterback. But he struggled in the red zone, where the Jets went 0-for-3.
“It’s unacceptable,” he said.
Darnold’s sustainability is a question in his career. He missed six games in his first two years – three due to a foot injury, three due to mononucleosis.
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