In brief glimpse, Darnold shows growth in Year 2
Sam Darnold’s first throw of the preseason was not pretty. He threw toward wide receiver Quincy Enunwa on the sideline, but Giants safety Jabril Peppers nearly intercepted it. That would be Darnold’s final mistake. Darnold and the Jets starting offense had an impressive drive to open the game Thursday night against the Giants at MetLife Stadium, marching 75 yards in seven plays. Darnold connected with Chris Herndon, Jamison Crowder and Ty Montgomery to march down the field. He capped it off with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Crowder and then called it a night. Darnold finished 4-of-5 for 68 yards and the touchdown.
“It was fun out there for that first drive and hopefully gave Jets fans a little taste of what the season is going to be like,” Darnold said.
The second-year quarterback exited with a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating and gave more reason to believe his sophomore year can be something special with new coach Adam Gase calling the shots.
Darnold has been terrific on most days in training camp, but you can only see so much in practice. This was his first time in a game situation with Gase and the two were clicking.
“His sideline demeanor and his on-field demeanor are awesome,” Gase said. “He is calm. Just watching him on the field, he’d relay the call in, get the guys lined up. He was just flatline. Then, he played fast.”
Star running back Le’Veon Bell did not play, but the Jets starting offense did not miss him for this short dress rehearsal. The Giants won the preseason game 31-22. The Jets won the coin toss and elected to put their offense on the field to open the game. After a short run by Montgomery and the near-interception by Peppers, Darnold was facing third-and-6 at the Jets’ 29. Darnold found Herndon across the middle and the tight end gained 32 yards to the Giants 39.
Darnold joked about the near interception, referencing last year when he threw a pick-six on his first play of his career against the Lions.
“That was really dangerous,” Darnold said. “First pass under coach Gase was almost a pick, almost a pick-six … again. I’m really trying to limit those.”
Darnold followed with a short pass to Crowder, who then took off for a 28 yards gain to the 11. Montgomery gained 5 yards on a pass from Darnold and then ran for 3 yards to get the ball to the 3-yard line.
Crowder scored on a short pass from Darnold to put the Jets up 6-0.
The Jets starters departed after that series, but it was a brief glimpse of what Gase hopes the Jets offense can be this year.
With players like Bell, Montgomery, Crowder and Herndon, Gase believes he can create mismatches with the defense. Defenses are going to be forced to use linebackers to cover some of the players the Jets have to run routes in the middle of the field. It is those matchups Gase will try to exploit with Darnold at the helm.
The Jets starting defense also looked strong in its only series of the night. They held Eli Manning and the Giants to 4 yards and a three-and-out before most of them headed to the bench.
Backup quarterback Trevor Siemian replaced Darnold and had a strong showing during the rest of the first half. He completed his first 11 passes and finished the night 13-of-16 for 77 yards with one touchdown. The touchdown came with 7:24 left in the second quarter when he connected with Elijah McGuire for a 7-yard score.
The biggest issue of the night for the Jets was kicker Chandler Catanzaro, who missed two extra points. Catanzaro did make a 34-yard field goal, but the Jets have to be worried about their kicker situation. He has been shaky during training camp and that continued Thursday night. The first extra point was from 38 yards after a delay-of-game penalty but the second one was from the regular distance of 33 yards.
Third-string quarterback Davis Webb also had a lowlight, throwing an interception to rookie linebacker Jake Carlock, who returned it for a touchdown. Webb is fighting for a roster spot, but the former Giant has had a shaky summer.