JETS’ SCRIMMAGE A GRAND SAM
Sam Darnold made up for lost time Saturday night.
After missing the first three days of training camp while he and the Jets haggled over his contract, the rookie got the majority of work among the quarterbacks Saturday night in the Jets’ Green & White scrimmage in front of a crowd of about 18,000 at Rutgers University.
Overall, Darnold played well as the third quarterback to take the field. He completed 9-of-11 passes for 89 yards. He also ran for 13 yards on two scrambles and was sacked twice. Darnold oversaw four drives in the scrimmage, while Teddy Bridgewater got three drives and Josh McCown got one.
“He got a lot of work wiwith the third group,” Todd Bowles said. “That was our plan, to play a lot of the young guys tonight. It’s part of catching him up to speed. We’ll look at the film, and we’ll see what happened. He’s grasping the offense pretty well, and we’ll go from there.”
The most impressive part of Darnold’s game early in training camp has been his mobility and ability to keep plays alive. You can tell he is comfortable throwing on the run, and he made one really nice 9-yard run when he tucked it and scrambled.
“Those are some of the things he did in college, as well, extending plays,” Bowles said. “It’s good to have good feet in this league, as well as an arm.”
Darnold also showed he can make ththe throws. He made a pretty pass aacross the field to tight end Clive WWalford on the sideline, a throw ththat requires major arm strength. HHe also found tight end Neal Sterlinling for a 30-yard gain, his longest ththrow of the night.
The Jets did not make any of the ququarterbacks available to the media afafter the game. Wide receiver Jermmaine Kearse praised Darnold for hihis ability to give receivers a chance, even when he is under pressure.
“He’s an athletic guy,” Kearse said. “He’s just as accurate on the run as he is in the pocket. That’s something that he’ll utilize to his advantage. It will help to extend plays in situations where he gets forced out of the pocket. It allows us to find areas to get open. He keeps his eyes down the field. That’s a good thing for us. We just have to find the open areas for him to deliver the ball.”
McCown started the scrimmage with his only drive of the night. He went 3-for-3 for 69 yards and hit Bilal Powell with a short pass that Powell took 52 yards for a touchdown. That was it for McCown, who watched the rest of the scrimmage from the sideline.
Bridgewater did not do anything flashy but did not have an incompletion. He was 7-for-7 for 53 yards. Bridgewater was under siege behind the backup offensive line that allowed him to be sacked four times.
“We let too many guys get in the backfield,” Bowles said.
The Jets now enter the next phase of training camp and the quarterback competition as they prepare for their preseason opener Friday against the Falcons at MetLife Stadium. The Jets have three practices this week before they face the Falcons.
The Jets expect Darnold to keep progressing before that next test.
“He takes a step forward every practice,” Kearse said. “I saw that from the get-go when we got into OTAs. He got better each practice and that’s all you can ask for. He’s just got to continue to keep his head down and keep learning as much as he can and make the most of the opportunities he gets.”