Jets’ Darnold says shoulder ‘all right,’ unsure on playing

NEW YORK — Sam Darnold isn’t sure yet if his sore shoulder will allow him to play Monday night.

The New York Jets quarterback practiced Friday for the first time this week after taking a hard shot to his right arm at Kansas City last Sunday.

“Yeah, it felt all right,” Darnold said after being limited at practice. “Just taking it day by day.”

Darnold missed two games last month after spraining the AC joint in his right shoulder against Denver on Oct. 1. He was reinjured against the Chiefs, but an MRI revealed no further damage. The quarterback acknowledged earlier in this week his shoulder was sore, and was noncommittal about playing against the New England Patriots.

“We’ll see,” he said. “Again, I think right now just taking it day by day is the best thing to do.”

Coach Adam Gase said before practice that the key will be how Darnold’s shoulder feels Saturday.

“Just really how he feels when he’s throwing it,” Gase said. “Last time we were kind of at this phase, all the throws looked fine, he had plenty of zip on the ball and he didn’t have any issues as far as losing a velocity on balls. It’s just going to be about how he feels when he’s throwing.”

Darnold insisted earlier in the week that he wants to play if he’s physically able, calling it his “worst nightmare” if he’s sidelined but healthy enough to take the field.

Darnold has not played well in his previous outings against the

Patriots, including a “Monday Night Football” game last season when TV cameras picked up the quarterback saying, “I’m seeing ghosts” with the Jets trailing 24-0 in the first half. New York lost 33-0 and Darnold’s comment — which referred to him misreading the defensive coverage — was splashed across social media.

“I mean, it is what it is,” Darnold said when asked if he learned anything from that embarrassing experience. “Anything you say nowadays, people are going say different things about it.

I don’t know, I was able to move on pretty fast. It was a long time ago, but yeah, from when that game happened until now, I feel like I’ve grown a ton as a player and I’ve matured a lot.”

He has struggled this season, though, along with the rest of the offense. Gase’s unit ranks last in nearly every major category, and Darnold’s numbers reflect that. He has just three touchdown passes with six interceptions, and his 65.9 quarterback rating is a career worst and ranks last among all QBs who have started at least three games.