JETS’ NEW HOPE ARRIVES TONIGHT
In Sam they trust. The Jets enter the 2018 season with a new quarterback and new hope.
The Sam Darnold era begins Monday night at Ford Field as Darnold leads the underdog Jets against the Lions in prime time. After months of talk, the regular season has arrived and Darnold will make his debut as the youngest quarterback to start a Week 1 game since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick, acknowledged he might feel some nerves, but the Jets are confident in the kid.
“I’m starting him, my confidence level has got to be pretty high,” coach Todd Bowles said. “He’s [been] playing football his whole life. We don’t go by age. There’s always going to be one-year guys, twoyear guys and 10-year guys. It’s a team going up there, so I don’t worry about the confidence of the quarterback. I worry about the confidence of the team. I just go by that and I go from there.’’
The emphasis around the Jets all week has been that Darnold is not going out there alone. The Jets believe they are an improved team from last year’s 5-11 squad, and not just at quarterback. With Trumaine Johnson at cornerback, Jamal Adams a year older and Leonard Williams focused on returning to his 2016 form, the Jets defense believes it is ready to win.
“We’re going to dominate as a team,” nose tackle Steve McLendon said. “Whatever happens at the end of the game, happens. But we’re going into every game with a championship mindset. Every time we step on the field, we want to win.”
While most observers believe the Jets are still a year away from being a contender, don’t tell them that.
“Again, our goal is take one game at a time and get to the playoffs and win the Super Bowl, and that’s our expectation,” Bowles said. “That’s what it was last year. Going into Week 1 is no different for us.”
The heat is on Bowles, who has missed the playoffs in each of his first three seasons. Even so, he says he is not feeling added pressure this year.
“Same pressure I felt when I came here,” Bowles said when asked how much pressure he feels. “I don’t go into every season feeling any less or any more. It’s the same pressure. You get to the Super Bowl from here that’s all I’m here to do. I’m not here to collect a check, I’m not here to go 8-8. I’m here to try and get to the Super Bowl.”