Darnold returns to practice, but he shouldn’t be rushed back

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — The Jets must take a cautious and conservative approach with Sam Darnold if they have any designs of properly evaluating him for the rest of this lost season.

Darnold returned to practice on a limited basis Wednesday for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury three weeks ago. Although it’s clearly a step in theright direction for theJets third-year quarterback, it’s fair to question the wisdom in playing him against the Bill son Sunday without a full week of preparation.

Why potentially compromise Darnold in a meaningless game?

“Right now, I would just say that all options are available,” Adam Gase said Wednesday. “We’ll have him onapitchcount. I thinkreally the biggest thing is going to be how’s he going to feel tomorrow… If there’s anythingthat… lingers when he’s throwing, that’s kind of his red flag.”

This isn’t the ’65 Dodgers needing Sandy Koufax on two days rest in Game 7 of the WorldSeries. The0-6Jetsare playing out the string a week before Halloween. It makes no sense to prematurely toss Darnold back into the fire if he’s not completely pain-free and able to have a full week of practice.

“It’s going to be tough for us to say that you’re going to get every rep and every throw that you need in individual [drills],” Gase said. “So we’ll gauge where he’s at. The walk-throughs always help us… Mentally, that’s really going to be beneficial for him.”

You know what would be even more beneficial? Actually getting a full week of practice for thefirsttimewith his top three wide receivers, who are expected to play in a game together for the first time this season.

Gase might be desperate for a win, but it would be an unnecessary risk to play Darnold given the bigger picture. The organization needs to fully and fairly evaluate the signal-caller over the final two months before determining the proper course of action moving forward.

Darnold needs to be healthy for that to actually happen.

Although Gase admitted “the percentages keep going up” that Darnold can return this weekend after missing two games if he practices more Thursday, the coach also cautioned that doesn’t meanthattheyoungquarterback is out of the woods.

“You want to think if we get through Wednesday and hecomesbackThursdayand feels good, [then] hey it looks like it’s goingtobeontheright track,” Gasesaid.“Butyoujust don’t know what Friday’s going to be [like]… So, we’ll kind of work through it.”