SAM’S WORLD
Darnold feeling at home in Gase’s new offense with Jets
EAST RUTHERFORD >> The rain washed all the fun away at the annual Jets-Giants preseason game on Thursday night at MetLife Stadium.
Before a 59-minute delay for severe weather interrupted play late in the first quarter, those who were in attendance at the far-from-soldout contest were treated some intriguing play at the quarterback position. Jets second-year starter Sam Darnold was 4-for-5 for 68 yards and a touchdown in his only drive of the game while Daniel Jones — who came in after a lone, ineffective possession of incumbent Eli Manning — dazzled fans by completing all five of his passes on a touchdown drive with 3:36 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Giants ultimately won the game, 31-22.
“I thought our guys did a really good job of getting open,” Darnold told reporters after the game. “First and foremost, our O-line blocked their butts off. I mean, the pocket every single time I dropped back was super clean and I was even able to scoot up a couple of times, even that one to Chris (Herndon), I felt like no one was really around me and that I just felt a huge gap in the pocket open up and I was able to find Chris over the middle and he obviously got a big gain, so it was fun out there for that first drive and, hopefully it gave Jets fans a little taste of what the season is going to be like.”
The reigns on Darnold seem to have been loosened significantly from this point last year, where then-coach Todd Bowles seemed reluctant to let him throw downfield too often as he was still learning the offense. An opportunity to work with new head coach Adam Gase in a game situation, albeit for only one possession, was “huge” for the former USC star.
“I think we just continue to make strides,” Darnold said. “These preseason games, I think that’s what that’s for, is just communication, continuing to be on the same page and it didn’t really change from practice very much, the only thing that changed was that I was able to get hit. I think just my communication with the o-line and the receivers and the running back, the tight end, I thought was pretty good. We can clean things up, but I thought for the most part, we did a pretty good job.”
The Jets offense managed to shine early despite the absence of Le’Veon Bell. Bell, who missed all of last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers due to a contract dispute, signed a four-year, $52.5 million contract with the Jets this offseason, but the star running back was on the bench for the duration of the game, as was his Giants counterpart Saquon Barkley, meaning the dream matchup of local halfbacks would have to wait until their regular season meeting later this year.
“He’s taken a lot of hits over his career,” Gase explained to reporters after the game. “The way he’s been practicing, that has really been the important part for us is making sure that he’s in the kind of game shape he needs to be in. Which I feel like you guys have all witnessed that he looks pretty good and he’s in good shape. There will be a time and a place that we’ll get him in a live game. We’re just talking through it and we’re going to take it week-to-week and we’ll come to a consensus at the end of the week before we play a game.”
As for who did play on Thursday night, once the delay for severe weather ended, the starters were long gone. The Giants backups managed to put up 17 points on the Jets reserves on defense. Kyle Lauletta and Alex Tanney each threw a touchdown pass, and Jake Carlock also returned a Davis Webb interception for six points.
Trevor Siemian performed well in relief of Darnold — he completed 13 of 16 pass attempts for 77 yards and one touchdown, cementing a backup job that was never really up for grabs anyway — and Luke Falk seemed to leapfrog Webb for the third-string role with a solid showing of his own, one that ended with a late touchdown pass in the waning seconds of the game.