Days after impressing in his preseason debut, Sam Darnold sees more reps with the New York Jets first-team offense.
Sam Darnold’s trajectory is skyrocketing.
Sunday’s joint practice against the Washington Redskins is the New York Jets first practice since the team’s 17-0 quarterback-driven victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Friday night. Darnold, who played wonderfully for a 21-year-old rookie, experienced the most reps with the first-team offense since joining the squad via slow clap, according to Brian Costello of the New York Post.
The number of reps has Costello firmly believing Darnold will start in Week 2 against these very same Redskins on Thursday night.
Despite the momentum, head coach Todd Bowles didn’t budge a bit when asked about the possibility of Darnold starting.
“It’s no indication,” Jets coach Todd Bowles said. “Just getting him caught up on some things.”
“It’s more important to get him working,” Bowles said. “First, second or third team, there’s going to be different guys throughout the game. It’s just important to get him working and caught up on certain things the defenses are doing. That’s more important than getting him reps on the first, second or third team.”
The young phenom discussed working more with the starters.
“I think working with the first team, it just gets me more comfortable with those guys,” Darnold said. “I think they get more comfortable with me and the way I like to play, all that kind of stuff plays into it. I think anytime I get the chance to be able to get those quality reps whether it’s with the ones, the twos or the threes, those are important reps.”
Darnold finished his first career preseason game 13-for-18 for 96 yards and a touchdown (to zero interceptions). He looked in control, calm and professional every bit of the way while showcasing arm talent this organization hasn’t experienced in quite some time.
