Welcome to the big league, Sam Darnold. The New York Jets rookie quarterback kicked off his NFL debut on a sour note by throwing a pick-six right in his very first passing attempt during Monday night’s road game against the Detroit Lions.

Darnold made an ill-advised decision to throw the ball across the field, which gave Lions cornerback Quandre Diggs enough time to get a good read of what the rookie was going to do. Diggs then intercepted Darnold’s pass and took the pigskin to the house for a 37-yard touchdown to give Detroit an early 6-0 lead before Matt Prater extended the score to 7-0 with an extra-point conversion.

Darnold, however, refused to make that bad throw rattle him. In fact, the rookie out of USC bounced back by throwing two touchdown passes as of this writing.

Interceptions and errors are always part of any newcomer’s learning curve in the NFL, and if Darnold’s two touchdowns so far in this game were any indication, it appears as though he has learned his lesson fast.

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Jim Cerny ·

With his pick-six to start his NFL career, Sam Darnold joins Jameis Winston and Brett Favre as the only players to throw one in their first career pass attempts since 1991, per Field Yates of ESPN.

Darnold was selected third overall by the Jets in this year’s NFL Draft, and the rookie is rapidly proving that he’s the team’s long-term answer under center.