With his team set to face the New York Jets, D.J. Hayden hopes Sam Darnold sees more ghosts … and Halloween has nothing to do with it.
Jalen Ramsey has moved on to Los Angeles, but D.J. Hayden is fulfilling the Jacksonville Jaguars’ quota of trash-talking cornerbacks.
Speaking with reporters as his squad prepares to face the New York Jets (1 p.m. ET, CBS), Hayden is hoping New York, in particular quarterback Sam Darnold, has a sense of deja vu upon visiting TIAA Bank Field.
In a video obtained by the Associated Press’ Ben Murphy, Hayden referenced the now-infamous clip of Darnold declaring he was “seeing ghosts” after one of his five turnovers in Monday’s 33-0 loss to the New England Patriots.
Darnold’s statement was part of ESPN’s Monday Night Football coverage, which had the quarterback wearing a microphone throughout the game.
"If he's seeing ghosts s*** I hope he seeing ghosts when he comes to Duval cause I could use a couple picks"
DJ Hayden is ready for Sam Darnold to get here#Jaguars pic.twitter.com/0sGnIGNrMB
— Ben Murphy (@BenMurphyTV) October 23, 2019
If Hayden’s requests go fulfilled, the Jets might have to suit up Peter Venkman and Raymond Stanz on Sunday.
“If he’s seeing ghosts, (expletive) I hope he’s seeing ghosts when he comes to Duval cause I could use a couple picks,” Hayden says in Murphy’s video.
Hayden might need some supernatural assistance for an interception at this point. He has yet to record one on the season, his last takeaway through coming in Week 13 of last season, though he did force a fumble in Jacksonville’s 27-17 win in Cincinnati last weekend. Jacksonville as a whole had struggled with forcing turnovers prior to last week’s visit to Paul Brown Stadium. They had just two in six prior games but forced three interceptions from Andy Dalton to accompany Hayden’s fumble.
Darnold faced off against Jacksonville once last season, Hayden’s first with the Jaguars (3-4) after time with Detroit and Oakland. The quarterback threw for 174 yards and a touchdown in a 31-12 loss. Hayden didn’t play in the game due to a toe injury.
The Jets (1-5) were reportedly displeased over Darnold’s candid observation reaching ESPN airwaves. Microphoned in-game players and their statements are supervised by a representative of NFL Films that approves whatever acquired content makes the air. Jets head coach Adam Gase has remarked that the team would be reevaluating partaking in the feature moving forward.
“That was one of those things that was really disappointing to hear about after the game. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that where somebody that was mic’d up was basically, a comment like that was allowed to be aired,” Gase said, per Brian Costello of the New York Post. “It bothers me. It bothers the organization. We’re looking hard into our cooperation going forward.”
Running back Le’Veon Bell also put a tweet defending Darnold, criticizing the NFL for approving the comment for airwaves. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers likewise spoke out against the process in a Tuesday interview on The Dan Patrick Show.
“I haven’t been mic’d up in a while. I feel like it’s a little invasive at times,” Rodgers said. ?ESPN’s is Live and they can play it quickly. The NFL Films (documentaries and highlight reels), they can go back and cut it, and they’re not watching real-time and putting it up on the TV. I think that puts you in a tough spot.”
