Shaky outing shouldn’t deter Jets from going with The Kid
LANDOVER, Md. — So Sam Darnold is human after all.
The Kid had one pass batted down at the line of scrimmage and a fourth-and-1 pass for Jermaine Kearse tipped and intercepted at the Washington 20 late in the second quarter of Redskins 15, Jets 13.
He did engineer a field-goal drive, but didn’t get his team in the end zone.
“Just couldn’t really finish in the red zone, which is my fault,” Darnold said. “I pride myself on being able to score touchdowns.”
There will be other batteddown passes and other interceptions and other occasions when he wisely recognizes that taking a sack is better than throwing it up for grabs, but the only way for Darnold (8-of-11, 62 yards) to learn, to be the franchise quarterback most everyone believes he will be, is to keep playing.
“Every single game that I play is huge,” Darnold said. “I feel like I’m gonna grow and get better every single day. That’s what I’m most excited about, is to see how much I’m gonna be able to grow and get better and build chemistry with the guys in the locker room. I think we have potential to do really good things.”
To be, or not to be the Week 1 starter? That is the question for Todd Bowles.
My answer: Turn him loose, and let’s all watch him grow together.
Just Give Him The Damn Ball, and The Damn Team, and tolerate the inevitable growing pains.
He has the head, he has the poise, he has the moxie, he has the arm, he has the legs to extend plays.
The only fly in the ointment is whether the depleted offensive line (two sacks on Darnold) will be able to protect him better than it did on Thursday night when some of the starters return.
It will be incumbent upon offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates to give Darnold the mother of all game plans every week.
“I felt like sometimes when J.B. started to call the play, I knew exactly what play he was going to, which was a good feeling,” Darnold said.
My feeling is Darnold’s off-platform prowess gives him a better chance to function than Josh McCown or Teddy Bridgewater. And this isn’t a kid who flinches, who is mentally weak. Todd Bowles absolved Darnold for his first pick. “Put that one on our coaching staff and me as well just for the play call, it should have been different,” Bowles said.
Darnold: “Ball needs to come out of my hand. If no one’s there, just try to get it to someone so they can make a play. As I was kinda releasing the football, my arm got hit a little bit which threw the throw off a little bit.”
Darnold saw progress. “Just continue to have flow about myself in terms of getting the play call and being able to spit it out in the huddle, which I thought I did a lot better job of this game than I did last,” he said. If there is a debate in Bowles’ mind, this is it:
START HIM: The Jets will never admit it, but 2019 marks the opening of their legitimate Super Bowl window. GM Mike Maccagnan will have the wherewithal to dive feet-first into another freeagent market. The sooner Darnold makes the Jets his team and the more experience he gets, the better. DON’T START HIM: Bowles is conservative by nature, prone to trust veteran quarterbacks (see Ryan Fitzpatrick) and the opener is a Monday nighter in Detroit. McCown, who did not play Thursday, may be 39, but he won his teammates over last season and is universally respected as a tremendous leader. Bridgewater looked like the real deal before he suffered that devastating knee injury. There are reservations about whether the knee will hold up. He was thrilled getting hit on it and living to tell about it.
Bowles is 20-28 as Jets coach. He can miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season and not lose his job. As long as the Darnold arrow is pointing up.
START HIM: Darnold has more than closed the gap already on McCown and Bridgewater. His upside would be foolish to ignore.
DON’T START HIM: Chad Pennington sat two years behind Vinny Testaverde and hit the ground running when he got his chance.
START HIM: Rex Ryan started Mark Sanchez from Day 1 and got to the AFC title game in their first two seasons together. Then, of course, the roof caved in on Sanchez. DON’T START HIM: Sanchez was surrounded by a better supporting cast than Darnold will have. START HIM: Darnold will make the players around him better.
DON’T START HIM: He’s 21 years old, started only 24 games in college and is still adapting to commanding a huddle. But he commanded the huddle efficiently against the Redskins. START HIM: Darnold played at USC. The big stage and big moment won’t scare him. He is built for this. START HIM. Turn your team over to The Kid, Todd. “We’re gonna play the best guy,” Bowles said. Sam’s The Man. steve.serby@nypost.com