Regress test
Darnold admits ‘stupid’ play was unacceptable, vows to get better
Je t s rookie quarterback Sam Darnold was b r ut a l ly honest in his assessment of how he played in Sunday’s 13-6 loss to the Dolphins.
“Quite frankly, just playing stupid. I thought I played s t upid footbal l ,” Darnold said on a conference call Monday. “I’ve just got to be better. I know that. The coaches know that. Everyone knows it.”
It was the first major bump in the road for Darnold this season. He threw a season-high four interceptions, completed under 54 percent of his passes and looked hesitant at times and like he was forcing things at other times.
Everyone knew to expect some rough times with a rookie quarterback. They have arrived for Darnold and the Jets.
“He made some bad throws that he’d like to have back,” Jets coach Todd Bowles said. “It wasn’t his cleanest game to date.”
Sunday was his worst day, but he has struggled in each of the past three games. In those games — all losses — Darnold has completed 47.8 percent of his passes, thrown two touchdowns against seven interceptions and has a rating of 43.3. In his first six games this year, Darnold completed 59.8 percent of his passes, threw nine touchdowns, seven interceptions for a rating of 83.7.
Darnold was hard on himself after Sunday’s game. The 21-yearold does not seem shaken by his performance, but you can tell he feels like he let his team down.
“If I don’t turn the ball over, I feel like we have a good chance to win that ballgame,” Darnold said.
The rookie spent Monday diagnosing what went wrong.
“I definitely feel like I forced some things, but at the same time I feel like there were some throws where I was second-guessing myself and I could have pulled the trigger,” Darnold said.
Why did he second-guess himself ?
“I think i t ’s just me at some moments in the game ge t t i n g i n my own h e a d ,” Darnold said. “I think I just have to s tay true to my pro- gressions, stay true to the confidence that I normally have and just go out there and sling it.”
According to Next Gen Stats, Darnold held onto the ball for more than 2.5 seconds on all four interceptions. He leads the NFL with nine interceptions on throws taking 2. 5 seconds or more this season.
Bowles said Darnold had a “couple bad reads. That kind of crept up [Sunday].”
With the offense sputtering, Darnold could fall into the trap of trying to do too much. Nothing is working for the Jets offensively right now, from snapping the football to running it to throwing it.
“He knows he has to play within the system,” Bowles said. “He understands when he can and can’t make throws. You want him to make throws and make big throws but you don’t want him to force it.”
Bowles said he is not considering benching Darnold for veteran Josh McCown “at this time.” It seems counterproductive at this point for the Jets to bench Darnold. It is better to let him play through his struggles. The Jets are not going anywhere this season at 3-6, so what is playing McCown going to do for them?
Bowles tried to steer the blame away from Darnold and put it on the entire team.
“It’s not just Sam. It’s the team, period,” Bowles said. “[Sunday], it was mainly the offense. … We just have to play better and execute as a whole. It’s not just based upon Sam. It’s based upon the whole team.”
Bowles was asked how concerned he is about that offense that has not broken 20 points in the past three games. “Ve r y concerned because we didn’t score a bunch of points the last three weeks,” B o wl e s said. “We’ve got to f i nd a way to execute better and get it right.”