On paper it really looked like Sam Darnold struggled against the Cleveland Browns, but New York Jets quarterback Todd Bowles though his young quarterback “grew a lot” in the loss.
Darnold finished the game going 15-31 for 169 yards, zero touchdowns, and two interceptions. He had an interception problem at USC and now he's starting to turn the ball over in the NFL. He has already thrown five interceptions through three games. Bowles didn't want to focus on the negatives, instead of trying to get some positives out of the game. Via Pro Football Talk.
“I thought yesterday was one of his better ball games from a mental standpoint, and a toughness standpoint, and a grit standpoint and the natural stuff. It is easy to throw when you have time in the pocket and they’re wide open, but when you can move around and make plays happen [that is different].
“I thought he took care of the ball for the most part until the end of the ball game, obviously when we had to press to try and get something done. But I thought he grew a lot last night. Going in and watching the schedule, after he won the starting job, I thought this would be his toughest game from a scheme-coverage standpoint because of the things that they do on that side of the ball. I thought he handled that well.”
The Browns were a good test for Darnold and it's not going to get any easier next weekend when he takes on the Jacksonville Jaguars. He needs to go back and look at the film and try to figure out how he can do a better job of taking care of the ball.
If he makes the same mistakes against the Jaguars that he did against the Browns it's going to be a long game for Darnold and Bowles.
Follow Us
Subscribe