The education of Sam Darnold continued during the bye week when he attempted to drive into Manhattan during Thursday’s snowstorm.
“We tried to get out at 4. That didn’t go so well,” Darnold said sheepishly Monday. “We got about 5 miles in two and a half hours. We tried to get out of here as fast as possible. It didn’t work out.”
Darnold, who did not have to deal with snow growing up in Southern California, and his friends hopped on a train and discovered that was the way to travel when bad weather hits. It was the latest lesson for the 21-year-old Jets quarterback. Now, the question is when he will be learning lessons about football again.
Darnold did not practice Monday as the Jets returned from the bye, still nursing his sprained right foot. But he sounded encouraged about the progress he’s made.
“I have started jogging,” Darnold, who is no longer in a walking boot, said. “It feels good. It feels great. Nothing for me to complain about. No pain either.”
Where there was pain was in Todd Bowles’ press conference, trying to get an idea if Darnold will play Sunday against the Patriots or if Josh McCown will make his second start.
“Right now, it’s status quo,” Bowles said.
Which means?
“Day to day, week to week,” he said.
It was a five-minute session with Bowles that was about as illuminating as a broken light bulb. The team does not have to issue an injury report until Wednesday, but during the open portion of practice to the media on Monday, Darnold was just an observer and did not have pads on.
The bye week gave Darnold some time to reflect on his rookie season thus far. He has had his ups and downs, the worst game came in his last game, against the Dolphins when he threw four interceptions. He missed the Bills game two weeks ago with the foot injury.
“Throughout the year, I feel like I’ve been progressing and getting better,” Darnold said. “Yeah, the Miami game … it wasn’t a step in the wrong direction. It was just a little bump in the road I think. I think other than that I’ve been continuing to improve every single week and I’m just going to try to do that if I get the chance to play.”
If Darnold gets cleared to play this week, he will be the latest Jets quarterback to try and slay the Patriots and Tom Brady. Darnold has grown up watching the Patriots win Super Bowls, so he admitted this game would be special to him.
“The idea of going up against [Brady] and the Patriots and coach [Bill] Belichick, all those guys, it’s a cool thing,” Darnold said, “especially with me growing up in the era where they’ve really controlled the whole NFL for the most part. It’s really cool to have a chance to go up against him if I get the opportunity this weekend.”
Bowles would not say if Darnold will participate in practice on Wednesday at all. Darnold clearly is hoping he will. He was asked if the time off benefited him. He made it clear he wants to play, not watch.
“I want to be out there,” Darnold said. “I want to be out there playing with the guys. I think the biggest thing for me was to just watch Josh go about a game week. Watching him on the field, watching him on the practice field helped me out a lot. In terms of that, it was good. But I definitely want to be out there with my guys.”
Bowles said he hopes to see growth from Darnold down the stretch, whether that begins this week against the Patriots or in another week.
“He can get a lot out of it,” Bowles said of the stretch run. “He’s learning every week. When you start in this league as a rookie quarterback, you’re going to learn different things every week good and bad. Just the maturation of the offense is the biggest thing, understanding when he can take chances and when he can’t take chances.”
