Jets QB Sam Darnold’s status for Bills game unclear due to shoulder injury
Sam Darnold’s readiness for Sunday’s game against the Bills remains in doubt nearly three weeks after spraining the AC joint in his throwing shoulder.
“I don’t have a great answer for you on that one,” Adam Gase said Monday about his gut feeling whether the third-year quarterback will return after missing two games. “I think it’s more of when the trainers say, ‘Hey, today we get a chance to throw or we’re going these distances.’ That’s really when it’s going to pick up for us. How he’s feeling when he’s throwing. Judging where we’re at there. Making sure that we’re all on the same page.”
Darnold returned to the Jets' primetime loss to the Broncos in Week 4 after getting injured on a sack. The Jets curiously didn’t put him on Injured Reserve even though it was obvious the quarterback would almost certainly miss at least two games with the separated shoulder. Darnold has since experienced intermittent pain since getting hurt. It would be reckless to rush him back until he’s not experiencing any pain and has regained his full range of motion.
The 0-6 Jets, who removed one of the few weapons Darnold had at his disposal last week (Le’Veon Bell), will be sellers in the next couple weeks before the trade deadline.
The Jets, who are dead last in scoring and passing offense, are 0-8 in games that Darnold has missed due to injury or illness.
“We’re progressing in the right direction,” Gase said about the signal caller’s rehab. “It’s just all about how he’s feeling when we keep progressing in those stages.”
Joe Flacco was under duress behind an awful offensive line in last week’s loss to Miami. It would behoove the Jets to rest Darnold a little longer.
GASE THE PLAY-CALLER
A week after Gase claimed he considered giving up play-calling duties, the mercurial coach appeared to put that thought on the back burner. The Jets offense is circling the drain in virtually every statistical category, but Gase isn’t likely to pass off play-calling duties in the wake of getting shut out.
“Yeah, I mean, like I said, we’re looking for what’s the right thing to do,” Gase claimed. “I got a couple other things I got to really sort through offensively before we make any kind of decisions whatsoever on stuff like that. We got to get some things adjusted. Figure out who we got available for this week. That’s like Step 10 right now and we’re on Step 2.”
Truth be told, Gase & Co. have been stuck on Step No. 1 for the better part of a season and a half.
INJURY UPDATES AND MORE
Gase said there’s no definitive timetable on when rookie left tackle Mekhi Becton will return from a shoulder injury that he exacerbated by playing four days after he got hurt in a loss to the Colts. Gase and Joe Douglas' reckless and irresponsible decision to activate and play Becton against the Broncos in Week 4 is a microcosm of the team’s dysfunction. ... Left guard Alex Lewis is considered week-to-week due to shoulder ailments, including a sprained AC joint. ... Offensive tackle Chuma Edoga is dealing with a calf injury. Linebacker Frankie Luvu has a groin issue. ... Rookie wide receiver Denzel Mims (hamstring), who hasn’t played this season, is expect to practice again this week, Gase said.
———
©2020 New York Daily News
Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
