When the New York Jets line up this Sunday in Miami, Sam Darnold won’t be on the field with them. For a second straight game, the Jets will keep Darnold out of action while he continues to improve from a shoulder injury.
On Wednesday, Darnold told reporters he’s progressing and taking it one day at a time. He suffered the injury two weeks ago in a week 4 loss to the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football.
“Just taking it one day at a time right now,” Darnold said. “I feel like the shoulder’s gaining a ton of range of motion, which is good. But again, just taking it one at a time right now.”
The Jets, at 0-5, are taking everything one day at time right now. They’ll start Joe Flacco again and hope his career success against Miami continues. Flacco is 6-0 in his career against the Dolphins. Those wins, however, were while he was quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens.
Darnold, meanwhile, will get to watch again. The Jets have yet to win in any of the seven games their franchise quarterback hasn’t started. The odds will be stacked against them again this week.
“I think he’s doing a good job of communicating and letting us know how he feels,” head coach Adam Gase said. “He’s being honest in terms of his pain tolerance, his range of motion, him being able to work on his throwing motion a little bit. He’s a quick healer.”
As much as the 23-year old Darnold wants to play, there’s no logic to hurrying his injury rehab. Let him take another week or two to get his body right.
When Darnold returns, the Jets can evaluate how he looks in an offense which will likely include rookies La’Mical Perine and Denzel Mims.
Image: Steven Ryan | Credit: AP
