Footing can change quickly in the NFL, especially for rookie quarterbacks charged with setting their teams on new and better courses.
Sam Darnold was a conquering hero in Week One when he directed the Jets to a rout of the Lions, but the next two weeks have proved to be rougher sledding. The Jets were sloppy in a Week Two loss to the Dolphins and blew a 14-point lead to the Browns last Thursday night in Baker Mayfield’s own coming out party.
Darnold threw four interceptions in those two losses and head coach Todd Bowles was asked how he thinks Darnold will react in his next outing.
“I think he will come out of it fine,” Bowles said on a conference call. “I think Sam has the right mentality and he has the right work ethic to learn what he has done wrong, as well as the rest of the team. They come back out of it, and he’s not in it by himself. We are in it as a team. Everything he learns from is an experience. He made some good plays. He had some plays that he can learn from and some plays that he would like to have back. I think he will come out of it fine.”
The Jaguars are next up for the Jets and their defense is unlikely to make things easy on Darnold as he tries to show that he’s learned how to avoid making the same mistakes.
