A bye week was not the cure to Sam Darnold’s injury woes.
The Jets quarterback will miss a second straight game with a shoulder sprain, coach Adam Gase announced Monday, making Joe Flacco the starter for the fourth time in six games Sunday against the Chargers in Los Angeles.
Darnold will be on an interval throwing program aimed at building back his strength and though he said he is “very confident” he will play again this season, neither he nor Gase were able to put a timetable on his return.
“I think it’s the smart decision not to play,” Darnold said on a conference call. “I’ve given it thought, it’s just gotta heal. It’s gotta have time.”
The setback is a blow for both Darnold and the Jets. The final seven weeks of the season were set to be a chance for Darnold, with his top three receivers finally healthy at the same time, to answer whether he could be the quarterback of the future for the 0-9 Jets. Instead, the third-year quarterback will spend at least another week on the sideline as the Jets inch closer to a No. 1 pick and potentially Trevor Lawrence.
Darnold initially sprained the AC joint in his throwing shoulder in Week 4 against the Broncos and missed two games before returning in Week 7 against the Bills. The following week, his shoulder took another shot on a scramble against the Chiefs, which led to him missing the Jets’ Monday night loss to the Patriots. He said Monday he does not believe he came back too soon from the initial injury, but that not sliding against the Chiefs was his “biggest mistake of all.”
The Jets were hoping the bye week would help heal his shoulder, but now they will be patient to make sure he is 100 percent healthy before he plays again.
“When he came back the first time, he wasn’t having issues making throws and the pain last week wasn’t the same as it was the time before,” Gase said. “For whatever reason, it was tough for him last week. When he was throwing, a couple of throws he tried to make, he couldn’t throw it the way he thought he should be able to. That was the reason why he didn’t play last week. Moving forward, we just want to make sure when he steps on the field that he feels like he can make all those types of throws that he needs to with the velocity he wants to, the touch he wants to, instead of him trying to overexert himself.”
Gase said putting Darnold on injured reserve, which would sideline him for at least three games, had not been brought up. Instead, he tabbed Darnold’s status as “week to week.”
In the meantime, Darnold will be relegated to continuing his throwing program while keeping his own future in mind.
“Obviously I want to play,” Darnold said. “I always want to go out there and put it on the line for my teammates and coaches and just go out there and play football. That’s what I love to do and that’s first and foremost. Obviously as well, I gotta think about me injuring my right shoulder, it’s definitely tough to weigh all the options of what I could do.
“A bunch of different things you start thinking about in terms of longevity and how I could further injure the shoulder. I just think from where we’re at right now with it, it’s a good decision to be able to give it another week to heal up. Obviously I want to play, but just gotta weigh all the factors. After doing that, I thought it was the best decision not to play this week.”