Darnold completed 23 of 42 passes for 230 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in the Jets’ 37-28 loss to the Broncos on Thursday. He also rushed six times for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Darnold had a solid fantasy night overall in terms of total yards, but the fact he had to exit the game for a period of time in the first half with a shoulder injury and ended up taking six sacks and 10 total quarterback hits underscores how difficult a night it was for him from a physical standpoint. The third-year signal-caller did continue to demonstrate excellent chemistry with Jamison Crowder, who he connected with on seven occasions for 104 yards. Darnold also encouragingly found second-year wideout Jeff Smith for seven of his completions, giving him another reliable target in what has been a relatively thin pass-catching corps. However, protection clearly continued to be one of the biggest culprits in New York’s lack of continuity on offense, and Darnold will have a difficult time maximizing his talent while that remains the case. He and his teammates will look to regroup ahead of a Week 5 home matchup against the Cardinals on Sunday, Oct. 11. Coach Adam Gase said following Thursday’s loss that Darnold suffered a right shoulder sprain, per Ralph Vacchiano of SportsNet New York, but the fact that the young signal-caller was able to play through the injury provides reason to hope that his availability for Week 5 isn’t in serious danger.
