Darnold enters Year 3 with ‘definitely room to grow’ with Jets
NEW YORK — Sam Darnold was mostly pleased with how he finished last year with the New York Jets. The young quarterback enters his third NFL season knowing he needs to be even better.
Make or break? Not really. But Darnold, who has flashed promise with his playmaking abilities, along with some inconsistency mixed in, needs the arrow to go way up on his progress this year.
“There’s definitely room to grow,” Darnold acknowledged Tuesday in a Zoom call with reporters. “Throughout the back half of the season, I thought I improved on a lot of things. I thought I got more consistent and was just able to get more confident with the offense.
“There’s obviously room to be better for this next year and, for myself, I’m just trying to be as consistent as possible and play at a high level.”
That’s the hope for the entire franchise, which has focused its offseason on helping Darnold — with protection and playmakers.
General manager Joe Douglas rebuilt the offensive line by drafting left tackle Mekhi Becton and guard Cameron Clark, bringing back guard Alex Lewis and signing tackle George Fant, center Connor McGovern, and guards Greg Van Roten and Josh Andrews.
New York also added some playmakers around Darnold to help boost a unit that finished last in the NFL in total offense. The Jets signed running back Frank Gore, the NFL’s No. 3 all-time rusher, to complement Le’Veon Bell in the backfield. They lost top receiver Robby Anderson to Carolina in free agency, but signed wide receivers Breshad Perriman and Josh Doctson. Wide receiver Denzel Mims and running back La’Mical Perine were also key draft selections.
But, has it been enough to end a playoff drought that sits at nine years, third longest in the NFL behind only Cleveland (17) and Tampa Bay (12)?
“We definitely have the guys to be able to win football games,” Darnold said. “But as we see every year, it’s about putting everything together. Right now, we still have a long way to go.”
Darnold had a rough start in his first season in coach Adam Gase’s offense. He missed three games with mononucleosis and then found himself the subject of jokes after prime-time TV cameras showed him on the sideline saying he was “seeing ghosts” during a loss to New England.
At that point, questions were raised whether Darnold could be the franchise quarterback the Jets envisioned when they drafted him No. 3 overall in 2018.
He turned things around, though, in the last eight games by throwing 13 touchdown passes with only four interceptions in a 6-2 finish.
During the offseason, Darnold has been working again with personal quarterback coach Jordan Palmer. He also spent time with Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Washington’s Kyle Allen during the winter before the pandemic.