New York Jets Sam Darnold viewed the harrowing film from Monday’s debacle and is ready to go for a Sunday showdown in Duval.
With Halloween approaching, horror movies have taken the spotlight on televisions throughout the metropolitan area. No film, however, is scarier than the New York Jets‘ output from Monday night.
Losses at the hands of the New England Patriots are as routine as the coin toss for the rest of the league. But the Jets’ defeat was particularly brutal. Six turnovers afforded the offense zero momentum, with all but one coming out of the hands of Sam Darnold.
The quarterback had a particularly severe case of the Mondays, posting career-lows in yardage (86), completion rate (34 percent), and passer rating (3.6). New England took the game by a 33-0 final, the first time the Jets have been shut out at home since September 2012.
Darnold indeed viewed the recording of the carnage. Unlike many cult classics, this film didn’t get better with age.
“(It felt) exactly how it felt in the game,” Darnold said during his Thursday availability, per transcripts provided by the Jets. “There were just some mistakes, especially early on, something we did in practice that we didn’t do in the game. Some looks that we saw in practice that we didn’t execute in the games, that’s really it.”
The Jets barely have time to lick their wounds. Their Monday outing forces them into short rest headed into a Sunday afternoon showdown with the Jacksonville Jaguars (1 p.m. ET, CBS). Darnold seemed to indirectly describe the relatively quick turnaround as a blessing and the perfect antidote to exorcise the New England demons.
“I was super eager to get back out there and just practice,” Darnold said. “Getting back out there and practicing with the guys, that’s how you get over losses like that. But for me, it’s really about continuing to learn from that, continuing to learn from my mistakes I made in the Pats game, learn from it and have those mistakes not pop up again.”
“Getting out there in the game and not executing what we had planned as always, it makes me sick to my stomach. It’s a tough thing out there when you know exactly the look that you’re getting and you just don’t execute, that was on me, nobody else.”
Darnold’s looking to make up for some tough times against Jacksonville as well. In 31-12 loss last season, he threw for 174 yards and one touchdown, completing just 17-of-34 passes. He expects no mercy from a Jacksonville defense that still boasts several big names despite trading star cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams last week.
“Jacksonville is always tough, they are always a tough defense, they always have a great front,” he said. “Calais (Campbell), he’s a beast up there, upfront, so we always have to handle him and figure out different ways to block him and all that kind of stuff, but we will be ready and obviously their secondary and their linebackers are great as well.
In addition to clearing to publicly coming to grips with Monday’s debacle, Darnold was able to address a pair of “controversies” that emerged in the aftermath.
It was revealed earlier this week that Darnold had to have a toenail removed, adding to the list of medical calamities he has endured in this relatively young season. Some cleat alterations aside, Darnold assured the public that it’s nothing to worry about, calling his toe “really good” after his on-field workout.
Adding to Monday’s spooky atmosphere was Darnold, equipped with a microphone from NFL Films, declaring he was “seeing ghosts” after one of his turnovers. The comment was aired as part of ESPN’s Monday Night Football coverage and upset several parties within the Jets and the league, including head coach Adam Gase and running back Le’Veon Bell.
Darnold brushed off the notion that the incident would prevent him from partaking in future “mic’d up” segments.
“I’m going to continue being myself. If I start worrying about that kind of stuff then I’m worried about the wrong things,” he said. “I just have to continue to be me and being honest with my coaches, no matter what, no matter if I’m mic’d up or not.”
Further elaborating on the “ghosts” remark, Darnold said “that term gets thrown around a little bit. For me it was a moment in time, especially in the game, I maybe wasn’t seeing things as clearly as I hoped that I would, and that was kind of what that meant. Nothing more, nothing less with that, that’s really all that it is.”
Darnold said that the support of his teammates certainly helped, as did the words of fellow quarterbacks Brett Favre and Kurt Warner. The pair of Hall-of-Famers spoke out against the backlash and mockery Darnold took for his observation.
“I was able to get over it on my own. (But) I think having those guys talk about the clip that was aired live, I think having them talk about it cleared my mind a little bit,” he said. “But getting over a loss like that, getting back here and watching the game, and then right when I started watching Jacksonville film, in my head, I was done with it. So, that’s how I have to look at things and that’s what I did.”