Sam Darnold Out Possibly Multiple Weeks With Mononucleosis

New York Jets starting quarterback Sam Darnold is out for the Jets Monday Night Football game against the Cleveland Browns and is expected to miss multiple weeks of action due to a mononucleosis infection. Trevor Siemian will get the start(s) in place of Darnold.

Jets head coach Adam Gase would not specify precisely when Darnold is expected back, but expressed relief that the bye week comes early for the Jets this year. This suggests Darnold may not be back until week 5, after the bye, or later. No time is a good time to lose your starting quarterback, but given the Jets difficult schedule over the first seven weeks of the season, losing Darnold for an extended time now could cripple any chance the Jets had of making a playoff run.

The Jets’ play calling in last week’s game against the Bills was criticized for, among other things, being too conservative, with a “dink and dunk” approach to the passing game. With Siemian now in for Darnold for the near future, Jets fans can probably expect a steady diet of such passes over the next few weeks from the less than howitzer armed Siemian.