Jets have more questions than answers after 2nd preseason game
LANDOVER, MD. » The Jets second preseason game was expected to provide some answers to a very unique quarterback competition.
All it did was provide more questions.
Sam Darnold struggled at times, Teddy Bridgewater mostly played well and Josh McCown didn’t play at all in Gang Green’s 15-13 loss at the hands of the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field on Thursday night.
“I thought (Darnold and Bridgewater) played well,” said Jets head coach Todd Bowles.
“I thought they were gritty, and had some adverse situations but thought they hung in there tough and played well. The two interceptions, we don’t like turnovers, but I thought they fought and played in some tougher situations than last week and I thought they handled it well.”
One week after all but being anointed as the Jets starter following an oft-impressive showing against the Atlanta Falcons, the third overall pick in the 2018 National Football League Draft struggled at times during the first half.
Yes, the former USC standout completed eight of his 11 pass attempts over three drives, but gained only 62 yards through the air, was sacked twice and intercepted for the first time in the NFL.
“I thought I played good,” Darnold said. “I have to continue to go through my progressions and…understand when that internal clock is going off. Down in the red zone when I got sacked, I could have gotten rid of it a little quicker, but I’m proud of myself for hanging in there.
His first drive was a threeand-out, one in which he was sacked by Daron Payne on third down.
His second got Gang Green their only points of the half — it culminated in a 36-yard field goal by Taylor Bertolet, who once again got the kicking duties with Cairo Santos out — and was his best of the night. However, another third-down sack, this time in the red zone, squashed Darnold’s touchdown hopes.
Doug Middleton’s interception midway through the second quarter of Colt McCoy gave Darnold both his best field position and chance to put up six points; it was his first time facing the Redskins second-string defense, and he’d have the ball at his own 46-yard-line.
However, after a strong start to the drive — Darnold gained a first down with an 11yard completion to Bilal Powell — things went south. He had a pass knocked down at the line of scrimmage, found Robby Anderson down the right sideline for only four yards, and was then picked off when he attempted to force a ball to Jermaine Kearse.
Darnold didn’t seem to see Redskins safety Deshazor Everett jumping the route, and he made a leaping deflection of the pass attempt, giving Troy Apke enough time to get underneath it for the pick.
As for Bridgewater, he seemed to very much so still be in the competition to earn the starting job for Week 1. He went 10-for-15 for 127 yards with one touchdown and one interception; the scoring strike on a 16-yard pass to Charone Peake with 11:02 left in the fourth quarter, but the pick coming one drive later when a deep ball down the left sideline intended for Charles Johnson was snagged by cornerback Prince Charles Iworah.
But the former Pro Bowl quarterback, who missed almost all of the last two seasons with a devastating knee injury, was most happy about simply getting hit, including a scary tackle from behind by Redskins linebacker Pete Robertson landed on his right, nonsurgically repaired knee.
“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 bit if he wants to get hit,” Bowles said.
“It’s part of the game, I wish I could have got a flag,” Bridgewater said. “It was fun. I keep saying it was fun, because those last two years of just sitting on the sidelines not knowing what’s going on. It’s one of those things where it happened, I didn’t think about it, and just went to the sideline.”
McCown, 39, who was last year’s starter before going down with a season-ending injury, didn’t play at all, which was the case during the second game of the 2017 preseason as well in Detroit.