Sam Darnold professes 'love' for Jets, wants to 'be a Jet for life'
On Sunday, the New York Jets lost 40-3 to the Seattle Seahawks.
It was a result that mocked the chasm of a point spread that favored Seattle by 16.5 points. It was a result that belonged on the Week 2 column of a Power 5 college football team padding its schedule against an FCS bottom dweller.
It was an unsurprising result.
The Jets are abysmal. Even up against the dreadfully inept history of franchise, this team is special. Fourteen weeks into the NFL season, 0-16 appears to be an inevitability.
And Sam Darnold is all in.
Darnold wants to be a ‘Jet for life’
The third-year quarterback whom the Jets spent a No. 3 draft pick on has officially planted his flag in “bust” territory. Yet, he professed his love for the franchise on Monday, a day after losing by 37 points.
“I love it here,” Darnold told reporters on a conference call. “I love the people around here. I love living here. I've always said I want to be a Jet for life, but that decision is not necessarily up to me. But that's how I feel.”
Darnold was ineffective Sunday, completing 54 percent of his pass attempts for 132 yards. As the scoreboard makes abundantly clear, he did not throw a touchdown. He also didn’t throw an interception, which added up to an above-average effort for Darnold in a season that has seen him throw five touchdowns against nine interceptions through nine games.
Are the Jets historically bad because of Darnold? It’s hard to lay the blame squarely upon the 23-year-old. But his dramatic fall from the top of the NFL draft can’t be ignored.
It’s easier to place the blame of Darnold’s ineptitude on the taint of the Jets. There’s history in New York. And he’s not getting much help from above.
Inevitable breakup best for both parties
Head coach Adam Gase, who was hired in 2019 as an alleged quarterback whisperer to mold Darnold, gave a half-hearted defense of his quarterback while throwing a pity party of his own Monday.
“That’s who’s gonna get it,” Gase told reporters of the criticism facing Darnold. “The quarterback and the head coach get all the blame. That’s just what it is.”
Gase appears to remain employed because the Jets are going by the blueprint at this point. Wins in this long-lost season are detrimental to the franchise as the race to the bottom and the first pick in the draft is in overdrive. Even if Gase scoffs at the mention of tanking.
With the 1-12 Jacksonville Jaguars on the their heels, the 0-13 Jets can’t afford to blow this now. The anticipated prize atop the draft — Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence — is too valuable, a bonafide beacon of light that the Jets hope can solve their longstanding quarterback woes.
Writing is on the wall
And that’s why Darnold, who has spectacularly failed to balm the Jets’ ailments, won’t get his professed wish to remain with the team he claims to love. He may have one more season in New York thanks to the remaining year on his rookie contract.
But there won’t be a second Jets contract for Darnold. His next NFL deal will arrive elsewhere, inevitably attached to another franchise hanging hope on a reclamation project — or as a high-profile insurance policy to an established starter.
And for Darnold, that’s most assuredly a good thing.
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