GHOST BUSTED
Darnold plays down comment, looks to rebound
Sam Darnold owned the worst night of his professional career.
He pointed the finger squarely at himself, played down the significance of ESPN airing his mic’d up “I’m seeing ghosts” comment, credited his teammates for their support and emphasized the need for him to move past his embarrassing viral moment.
He aced his Thursday press conference, nailing his 10-minute session with the media, and now he needs a follow-up performance Sunday against the Jaguars.
“Getting out there in the game and not executing what we had planned makes me sick to my stomach,” Darnold said, referring to his four-interception, 86-yard prime-time flop in a 33-0 loss to the Patriots. “It’s a tough thing out there when you know exactly the look you’re getting and you just don’t execute. That was on me; nobody else.
“Honestly, the biggest thing for me is I was thinking too much out there. I wasn’t keeping things simple enough, I was trying to do too much, and when I do that, I get myself in trouble.”
Earlier in the week, coach Adam Gase and running back Le’Veon Bell voiced displeasure with ESPN for allowing the “ghosts” quote to air, which led to the Jets and Darnold being the butt of social media jokes. But Darnold didn’t echo those comments, explaining it’s a way quarterbacks describe themselves when they aren’t seeing the field well and withholding his own criticism of the network. It wouldn’t make him hesitate if future requests were presented, either.
“I’m going to continue to be myself,” the secondyear quarterback said, “because if I start worrying about that kind of stuff, then I’m worried about the wrong things.”
He’ll get a chance in a few days to bounce back, to resemble the player who torched the Cowboys the week before in his return from mononucleosis and not the one who wilted under the spotlight against the Patriots.
Darnold did miss practice on Wednesday, after having a toenail removed on Tuesday, but he practiced fully on Thursday and said he felt fine. Sunday doesn’t appear to be in question. His toe will be protected by hardening the part of the cleat closest to it.
“I thought I moved around really good out there today,” he said.
Getting back on the field and working with his teammates to erase the mistakes they made helped him move past the ugliness of Monday night. Now they have to execute when it counts. The Jets know they will see plenty of
“cover zero” blitzes, as they did against the Patriots, until they beat them.
“It’s up to us to make a team pay if they want to bring the house,” Darnold said.
Darnold has received plenty of support this week. There were Hall of Fame quarterbacks Kurt Warner and Brett Favre expressing belief in him and detailing their own experiences seeing “ghosts.” Gase and Bell ripped ESPN for allowing the clip to be seen. But the best remedy for Darnold was merely getting back on the field and preparing for the Jaguars. The only way for him to really change the narrative is to perform better.
“I’m going to go out there and do my job to the best of my ability,” Darnold said. “We’re going to go out there and execute, there’s no doubt about it. But it’s about bouncing back.”