Bridgewater should be Jets’ starter for Week 1
LANDOVER, Md. — Teddy Bridgewater is trying to invite direct hits from defenders. Sam Darnold is trying to decode the NFL. That might be enough to inform the Jets’ decision when the time comes to pick their opening-night quarterback.
Bridgewater resembled a kid on Christmas morning as he bounded into the interview room at FedExField on Thursday night after the Jets’ 15-13 loss to the Redskins. A preseason defeat didn’t matter. The fifth-year veteran was beaming because he’d just played high-level football, moving smoothly around the field two years after a gruesome knee injury ended his short stint as the Vikings’ franchise quarterback and nearly snuffed out his career.
“I’m excited just to be out there having fun, felt like a kid running around in the backyard tonight,” gushed Bridgewater.
Playing the entire second half with — and, yes, against — backups, Bridgewater completed 10 of 15 passes for 127 yards, and his 16-yard strike to Charone Peake at the pylon in the fourth quarter produced the game’s lone touchdown.
Despite the heavy brace on his left leg, Bridgewater seemed to glide when evading pressure. But he definitely wasn’t running scared.
In fact, he wanted to take a few licks from the Redskins.
“I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do or say as a quarterback, but for me it’s just continuing to knock down that mental block that, ‘Hey, you can do this,’ ” Bridgewater said.
“I could’ve thrown the ball away or ran out of bounds. But I wanted to challenge myself, see if I could take a hit. It was fun. Get up, smile, tell the guys, ‘Hey, that was nothing. Next play.’ ”
He even tried to stiff-arm a defender on a fourth-quarter scramble.
“Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for me, he wanted to get hit some. I told him I have a neighborhood where he can get hit quite a quipped Jets coach Todd Bowles.
“It was good to see him from a durability standpoint . ... He’s a tough guy.”
That’s among the reasons the Jets should consider starting Bridgewater instead of first-rounder Sam Darnold when Week 1 rolls around. Ponder this:
❚ New York’s offensive line is missing two starters, including left tackle Kelvin Beachum, and Darnold and Bridgewater were consistently under duress Thursday.
❚ This offense lacks the weapons at running back or receiver that would force a defense to shift its focus from harassing a rookie quarterback.
❚ A defense that will have to perform well to keep the Jets competitive saw its starters shredded for 157 yards in three series even though starting Redskins quarterback Alex Smith played just one drive.
❚ The Jets open on a Monday night (Sept. 10) in Detroit, then play Week 3 at Cleveland on a Thursday — three games in a brutal 11-day span — before heading to Jacksonville in Week 4 to face arguably the league’s most talented and aggressive defense.
So why not let Bridgewater face those early hurdles while Darnold goes through valuable dress rehearsals and benefits from the tutelage of Bridgewater and 39-year-old Josh McCown? bit,”