Sam Darnold's Return!

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How Sam Darnold’s return affects the Jets in the immediate future



Sam Darnold is back.

The Jets quarterback, who has been sidelined the last four weeks with mononucleosis, passed his final medical test Tuesday morning. Bloodwork and an ultrasound showed his spleen had returned to normal size and doctors cleared him for contact. He’ll start Sunday when the Jets (0-4) take on the Cowboys (3-2).

Darnold wasn’t allowed to take part in any physical activity for two weeks. During the Jets’ Week 4 bye, he was allowed to do light cardio (walking and riding a stationary bike). When the Jets returned from their bye last Monday, doctors cleared him to throw a football. Yet because his spleen was still slightly swollen as the week progressed, he couldn’t have contact or eventually play against the Eagles.

After delaying his next test until Tuesday, the results finally showed what the team had been looking for.

Darnold’s return will undeniably provide a jolt for an offense stuck in a rut. In the three games Darnold missed, the Jets scored just one offensive touchdown. The Jets offense currently ranks 30th in efficiency, according to Football Outsiders. They’re converting third downs at an 11.5 percent clip since Darnold went down. They’ve been in the red zone once in their last two games.

Here are a few additional thoughts on Darnold’s clearance, impending start against Dallas and what this means for the Jets.

Masking some weaknesses

Darnold isn’t as accurate as Baker Mayfield, nor is he as elusive as Lamar Jackson. He doesn’t have the arm or size of Bills quarterback Josh Allen. But he has something those three don’t: An uncanny ability to make things happen off script.

Darnold is best when a play breaks down. He illustrated that during his touchdown to Robby Anderson against the Bills in Week 14 last year. He dropped back, rolled right, then flipped the field entirely before finding Anderson open in the back of the end zone.

While the play was called back, he did something similar against the Bills in the opener. He pulled the ball back on a run-pass option, made a defender miss and started to roll out on a broken play before seeing and finding Ryan Griffin open for the touchdown. The play was called back because of an offensive pass interference on Quincy Enunwa.

These plays don’t happen unless Darnold is the quarterback.

“Sam is able to hide things sometimes for us, where if we make a mistake, he covers it up,” Adam Gase said.

With Darnold out, if one or two players don’t do what they were supposed to, the entire play fails. In a detail-oriented scheme, as Gase runs, that’s extremely detrimental. This is where Darnold’s return should provide a legitimate boost. He can make things happen where others can’t.

Optimism and joy should be tempered some, though. Darnold hasn’t played football in a month. He threw for the first time last week. There will be rust. He won’t be the same player who exited training camp with sky-high expectations. It might take a couple of weeks before Darnold is Darnold again.

But half Darnold is better than full Luke Falk.

Improving the offensive line

Arguably the offensive line is the most significant beneficiary from Darnold’s return. The quarterback and center are the two most responsible for protection adjustments. Both Willie Colon and Damien Woody, two long-time NFL linemen, stressed how a good quarterback can make an average line look great or a bad one can make a great line look awful. When one is missing, it’s difficult for the other to pick up the slack.

Some — but not all — of the Jets’ problems up front are because of Darnold’s absence. Things should get better with him back.

Statistically, the Jets line looked awful against the Eagles. They allowed 10 sacks and 12 hurries. While some of those were the line’s fault, quite a few were because of Luke Falk simply holding onto the ball too long or failing to diagnose the rush. Darnold and center Ryan Kalil, who’s improved his play quite a bit as of late, should provide a boost to the protection and run blocking.

Opening up holes for Bell

It’s hard to imagine anyone questioning Le’Veon Bell’s heart after these last three Jets games, similar to safety Jamal Adams. Arguably Bell’s most impressive moment came last week on Vyncint Smith’s 19-yard touchdown run. The play worked because Bell was the lead blocker 20 yards down the field.

With Darnold out of the lineup, every defensive coordinator knew Bell was the Jets’ only hope of success. 11 guys keyed in on him every play. According to ProFootballFocus, 194 of Bell’s 206 rushing yards have come after contact. Part of that is because of the offensive line’s struggles, but also because the defense doesn’t fear a pass on first or second down. They’re run blitzing virtually every play.

Darnold is back. That means the fear of the pass is, too. This should free up some running lanes for Bell. He’ll make guys miss to pick up extra yards. Right now, he’s doing it just to get back to the line of scrimmage.

One other note on Bell: It’s been interesting to watch his development as a pass catcher with the Jets. While Bell caught a ton of balls with the Steelers (312 in 62 games), he was never a great route runner. Pittsburgh used him as Ben Roethlisberger’s check-down. He’d run five yards, turn around and wait for the ball if no one else was open.

Gase is using him as a receiver at times and asking him to run receiver routes. Bell is still learning how to do this. You can tell it’s new territory because he rounds off so many of his patterns instead of running them exact. Example: He breaks at 11 yards instead of 10. It happened on his touchdown grab against the Bills. That wasn’t a low pass from Darnold. Bell rounded off his out route, which not only took him too far up the field, but also threw off the timing.

Bell has improved immensely in this area as the season has gone on. Darnold’s return should exemplify it even more.

Robby Anderson can finally break out

Few are as frustrated with the beginning of this season than Anderson. In his contract year, the 26-year-old hoped to break out and display the potential to be a No. 1 wideout. Instead, through four games, he has 11 catches for 131 yards and no touchdowns. Anderson had 81 of those yards in Week 2. He has four catches for 27 yards in his last two games combined.

Despite those alarmingly low statistics, Anderson is enjoying the best season of his career. From a technique standpoint, he’s more complete than ever before. The Jets are allowing him to run the route tree. He’s getting open time and time again. Darnold’s absence has prevented the statistics from showing that. But defenses have taken notice.

Anderson and Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore have faced each other quite a bit since Anderson entered the league in 2016. That first year Gilmore played with the Bills before signing with the Patriots. In every matchup, Gilmore guarded Anderson the same. Sometimes he’d hit him at the line, other times he’d be off. But after that initial break on the line, he played back to cover the go route.

That wasn’t the case in Week 3, though. Gilmore played Anderson different than he ever had before. He bumped him. He played off. He opened his hips. He hesitated at the top of routes. For the first time, Gilmore didn’t know what Anderson was going to run, because Anderson wasn’t running the same thing every play anymore. Corners are starting to respect his route-running ability.

With Darnold back under center, Anderson can finally start to flourish. Luke Falk couldn’t get him the ball. Darnold can.

A chance to get the season back on track

This game against Dallas suddenly looks a lot different than it did a few weeks ago. After beginning the season 3-0, the Cowboys have lost two straight to the Saints (12-10) and Packers (34-24). More than a quarter of the way through the year, it’s clear the Cowboys haven’t beat anyone of note. Their three wins came against the Eli Manning-led Giants (35-17), Redskins (31-21) and Dolphins (31-6). The Giants are the only team of the bunch with victories. Daniel Jones, who replaced Manning in Week 3, led the team to both of them.

Dallas is still a talented team. Dak Prescott is good, Ezekiel Elliott is great, and Demarcus Lawrence is among the league’s best defensive linemen. But the Cowboys aren’t the juggernaut some thought they were early in the year. The Jets, at home, with Darnold, Chris Herndon and potentially C.J. Mosley back, have a chance. And if they can win, their season might just get back on track.

The Cowboys and Patriots, whom the Jets play next week, are the final two in the murderer’s row to begin the season. New York’s next four after that — Jaguars, Dolphins, Giants and Redskins — are all winnable. If the Jets can steal one against the Cowboys, they could be looking at a 5-5 record entering a Week 12 game against the Raiders.

Probable? No. But it’s possible.