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Jets QB Darnold says he's 'just playing stupid'


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Jets QB Darnold says he's 'just playing stupid'

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One day after the worst game of his young career, New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold offered a brutally candid self-evaluation.

"For me, I'm just not playing to the best of my ability and, quite frankly, just playing stupid," the rookie told reporters Monday on a conference call. "I thought I played stupid football [Sunday]. I just have to be better. I know that, the coaches know that, everybody knows that."

Darnold's interception total ballooned to a league-high 14 with a four-pick performance in a 13-6 road loss to the Miami Dolphins. He threw an interception on three of the Jets' last four possessions, including one that was returned for a touchdown by linebacker Jerome Baker.

For the first time since he was named the starter before Week 1, Darnold expressed self-doubt.

"I just have to play smarter, play better," he said. "Yeah, I definitely feel like I forced some things. But at the same time, I feel like there were some throws [I didn't make] where I was second-guessing myself and I could've pulled the trigger.

"At some moments in the game, I just get in my own head. I just have to stay true to my progressions and make sure [I have] the confidence I normally have. Just go out there and sling it."

After a promising start to the season, Darnold -- drafted third overall -- has slipped into a three-game funk. In those games, all losses, he has seven interceptions, only two touchdown passes and a passer rating of 43.3.

The Jets have dropped to 3-6. They face the Buffalo Bills (2-7) on Sunday in a battle of two struggling offenses.

Darnold said "the frustrating part" about Sunday was he felt the rest of the offense played well. He said the offensive line "blocked their asses off," although the stats suggest otherwise. He was pressured on 41 percent of his dropbacks, according to ESPN Stats & Information. He was sacked four times.

"It was just me turning the ball over," he said. "That was really the only thing. If I don't turn the ball over, I feel like we have a good chance to win that ballgame."

Coach Todd Bowles reiterated that he has no plans to make a quarterback change.

"Not at this time, no," he said.

The Jets' backup is Josh McCown, 39, who has yet to take a snap.

 

"He made some bad throws he'd like to have back," Bowles said of his rookie. "It wasn't his cleanest game to date."

Bowles was careful not to criticize Darnold, but he acknowledged the former USC star "had a couple of bad reads and that kind of crept up [Sunday]."

This is a pivotal point in Darnold's development. The Jets don't want to handcuff him, but they also know they can't win if he continues to force passes into coverage.

"He knows he has to play within the system," Bowles said. "He understand when he can and can't make throws. You want him to make throws and make big throws, but you don't want him to force them."

Darnold said he came out of the game with some "bumps and bruises" but also said that he's fine. Bowles said he's not aware of a specific injury.

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Darnold is NOT the problem.  This is getting ridiculous.  

Darnold has ZERO first line skill players out there or on the OL and what precisely did Macagan and Bowles think was going to happen with this level of talent out there?

Hold it all together like Tom Brady.  

Insane  

Good Grief!!

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1 minute ago, Charlie Brown said:

Darnold is NOT the problem.  This is getting ridiculous.  

Darnold has ZERO first line skill players out there or on the OL and what precisely did Macagan and Bowles think was going to happen with this level of talent out there?

Hold it all together like Tom Brady.  

Insane  

Good Grief!!

His WR's besides Enunwa are hot garbage

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Honest assessment, he did seem hesitant quite a bit. Since he's a rookie, I will spread the blame out a little bit to a lack of confidence in his WRs and O-Line as well as some of the play calling, but he still gets the bulk of the blame because it did seem like he left a few throws on the field. Still a pitiful game from the offense that we didn't deserve to win either way. If you can't score six goddam points in today's NFL, when teams come back down 20 in the fourth quarter, you're pathetic and should play your games on a Tuesday.

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Darnold is not the problem but he is playing like crap. No need to sugarcoat it. Just like when people said that Bowles was fine. Stop. Call a spade a spade. It’s ok to do that. It’s not hard to be realistic and it’s ok for him to play like garbage as a rookie in a TERRIBLE situation.

Sure he flashes but he’s playing very poorly at points too. Eyeball test shows that it’s really the situation and  his issues are correctable. His demeanor, attitude and flashes leave plenty of reason for hope/excitement.

But people should stop with all this blind homerism with various issues. It’s weak and very narrow minded. The message board experience would be much better if people were a little more level headed and honest about team issues. 

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27 minutes ago, Creepy Lurker said:

Darnold is not the problem but he is playing like crap. No need to sugarcoat it. Just like when people said that Bowles was fine. Stop. Call a spade a spade. It’s ok to do that. It’s not hard to be realistic and it’s ok for him to play like garbage as a rookie in a TERRIBLE situation.

Sure he flashes but he’s playing very poorly at points too. Eyeball test shows that it’s really the situation and  his issues are correctable. His demeanor, attitude and flashes leave plenty of reason for hope/excitement.

But people should stop with all this blind homerism with various issues. It’s weak and very narrow minded. The message board experience would be much better if people were a little more level headed and honest about team issues. 

Great post Captain Creepy. I mean it. Sh*t had to be said, and I'm glad you did.

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And so it begins the national media, in this case pardon the interruption discuss how Darnold is going to cost poor todd bowles his job.  this will be the mantra from here on out, people who do not actually watch the team defending bowels and blasting other parts of the team.

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44 minutes ago, Charlie Brown said:

Darnold is NOT the problem.  

He threw four interceptions in a game that ended up decided by seven points, and literally gave the Dolphins the only TD scored by either team all day. In the second half, when a single drive could have tied the game or given us the lead, we went punt, punt, field goal, punt, punt, missed field goal, pick-six, field goal, interception, interception. We never reached the red zone. The defense held Miami to six points. He was absolutely, positively, 100% the problem yesterday.

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9 minutes ago, 14 in Green said:

Great post Captain. I mean it. Sh*t had to be said, and I'm glad you did.

It really doesn’t have to be said though. Who am I to critique. It’s more of a suggestion and it’s more than ok so see the bad in things and acknowledge them.

What I find strange is if there were ever a franchise that deserved a ton of criticism, it’s these goddamm Jets and people blindly defend them like they have earned something. It’s very odd. Criticism and wanting realistic improvement is what a good fan wants. Ultimatley people can and should do what they want but my god it’s bizarre. 

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7 minutes ago, dbatesman said:

He threw four interceptions in a game that ended up decided by seven points, and literally gave the Dolphins the only TD scored by either team all day. In the second half, when a single drive could have tied the game or given us the lead, we went punt, punt, field goal, punt, punt, missed field goal, pick-six, field goal, interception, interception. We never reached the red zone. The defense held Miami to six points. He was absolutely, positively, 100% the problem yesterday.

Hmm, he was 50% of the problem. But there are other culprits:

  • the general discombobulation that is the New York Jets offense.
  • the lack of a good OL
  • a center that can't snap
  • the 'offensive' strategy that self-limits the offense instead of attacking defensive weaknesses.

This is exactly the worst offensive braintrust to have control over Darnold's talent.

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1 hour ago, Charlie Brown said:

Darnold is NOT the problem.  This is getting ridiculous.  

Darnold has ZERO first line skill players out there or on the OL and what precisely did Macagan and Bowles think was going to happen with this level of talent out there?

Hold it all together like Tom Brady.  

Insane  

Good Grief!!

He's trying to say the right thing. As a rookie, he can't say, "Welp, we run it on 1st and 2nd too much so I'm forced into situations where I have to try to make something happen on 3rd and long which statistically isn't going to go well for me."

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19 minutes ago, dbatesman said:

He threw four interceptions in a game that ended up decided by seven points, and literally gave the Dolphins the only TD scored by either team all day. In the second half, when a single drive could have tied the game or given us the lead, we went punt, punt, field goal, punt, punt, missed field goal, pick-six, field goal, interception, interception. We never reached the red zone. The defense held Miami to six points. He was absolutely, positively, 100% the problem yesterday.

Sure.  Just part of his development.  Not worried about Sam at all

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McCown did more with less last year.  Still wish they would have given Sam a year on the bench but I guess the silver lining is that this putrid display of football will hopefully be the straw that broke the camels back for Chris Johnson.  Time to fire Bowles.  Please.

 

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6 minutes ago, Pac said:

McCown did more with less last year.  Still wish they would have given Sam a year on the bench but I guess the silver lining is that this putrid display of football will hopefully be the straw that broke the camels back for Chris Johnson.  Time to fire Bowles.  Please.

 

by more do you mean two more wins?  Because still a half a season left.

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4 minutes ago, Pac said:

McCown did more with less last year.  Still wish they would have given Sam a year on the bench but I guess the silver lining is that this putrid display of football will hopefully be the straw that broke the camels back for Chris Johnson.  Time to fire Bowles.  Please.

 

McCown had the benefit of Morton who pretty much disobeyed Bowles wants. I'm not completely faulting Bates but I feel he's more of a yes man witnessing what happened to the OC last year. Bowles is , was and will continue to be the problem until he is relieved of his duties. 

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5 minutes ago, 56mehl56 said:

McCown had the benefit of Morton who pretty much disobeyed Bowles wants. I'm not completely faulting Bates but I feel he's more of a yes man witnessing what happened to the OC last year. Bowles is , was and will continue to be the problem until he is relieved of his duties. 

Stop with Morton..  the offense was largely a Bates offense last year.  He just had a savvy vet running the full system and calling audibles when the situation called for it.

Morton has gone into witness protection since last Jan.  No one has heard anything from him.  He was nothing special at all.

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9 minutes ago, The Crusher said:

by more do you mean two more wins?  Because still a half a season left.

I know what I know..  We're not 3-6 with McCown this year.

But again...  that's cool as long as they fire Bowles pronto.  Darnold will benefit from this debacle that is the 18' Jets.

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4 minutes ago, Larz said:

This is the 2nd or 3rd time he's mentioned confidence and trusting his reads and letting it rip

He is woefully unprepared too often

If he doesn't bounce back big time this week it might be time to sit him during the bye

Sorry where did you get anything about preparation from that?

Tough to be confident in reads when no one is ever open. 

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26 minutes ago, phill1c said:

Hmm, he was 50% of the problem. But there are other culprits:

  • the general discombobulation that is the New York Jets offense.
  • the lack of a good OL
  • a center that can't snap
  • the 'offensive' strategy that self-limits the offense instead of attacking defensive weaknesses.

This is exactly the worst offensive braintrust to have control over Darnold's talent.

Good post.  And the thing is, people expect darnold to be able to overcome all of this and make throw after throw but the reality is that all this stuff makes it much harder for a rookie.  And then he also has wrs who run lazy routes and step out of bounds.  

Also, does anyone else notice that this offense has tanked as soon as Powell got hurt?

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4 minutes ago, Pac said:

Stop with Morton..  the offense was largely a Bates offense last year.  He just had a savvy vet running the full system and calling audibles when the situation called for it.

Morton has gone into witness protection since last Jan.  No one has heard anything from him.  He was nothing special at all.

Yeah the QB coach called the offense while Morton stood by , what do you think he is Todd Bowles.  I would have loved to see Morton stick this season along with Bates but w/o the shrimp boat captain. 

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2 minutes ago, Augustiniak said:

Good post.  And the thing is, people expect darnold to be able to overcome all of this and make throw after throw but the reality is that all this stuff makes it much harder for a rookie.  And then he also has wrs who run lazy routes and step out of bounds.  

Also, does anyone else notice that this offense has tanked as soon as Powell got hurt?

I like Powell but I believe its more a function of DC's having more game film on Darnold and the Jets O. The Jets are probably the worst team at scheming for the opposition on both sides of the ball.

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I still think with time and some GOOD coaching (BTW the McCown mentor thing, how has that been working out?) Sam will eventually be fine. What's important though is finding out if he can overcome the struggles sane fans expected him to go thru this year. The last 3 weeks he's been bad. Even taking the supporting cast into account he's been the main problem, just look at the numbers. Its okay though, IF he shows us he can fight through it. He's a kid, and hopefully he looks back and laughs at this someday. But please, lets not look at these press conferences as a sign that "he gets it", or "he's a leader". The quotes, like any other BS these guys give when they've had time to think, mean nothing. Like someone said earlier Sanchez made it an art form. The only thing I want to see is this kid show us he's starting to get it ON THE FIELD. I could care less how he is behind a mic. 

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5 minutes ago, 56mehl56 said:

I like Powell but I believe its more a function of DC's having more game film on Darnold and the Jets O. The Jets are probably the worst team at scheming for the opposition on both sides of the ball.

Scheming for Crowell is easy, he’s not a threat to catch the ball and doesn’t have powell’s elusiveness.  Even yesterday the offense was much more fluid when McGuire was in there. 

I think part of darnold’s struggles is b/c he has too much of a big play mentality and sometimes just needs to check down to the rbs more, and using guys like McGuire rather than Crowell are better for him.

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