Darnold Doubtful For Monday, Flacco Likely To Start For Jets

Sam Darnold is listed as doubtful for the Jets’ Monday Night game against the Patriots. Joe Flacco will likely get the start in Darnold’s stead. Darnold was having some difficulty throwing the ball Friday, coach Adam Gase and Darnold did not like the way the ball was coming out, and Darnold was held out of practice today. Said Gase, “He was going to do everything he could to be able to go for this game. As practice went on, he felt there were some throws that he wasn’t comfortable with.”

The Jets’ bye week comes after the Monday Night game, so Darnold will now likely get the next couple of weeks to heal his ailing throwing shoulder. The cruel irony of this development is that the Jets ailing receivers have been trending towards starting the game Monday. If Darnold had been healthy, there was a pretty good chance he would have been playing with Jamison Crowder, Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims, his top three receivers, for the first time ever.

Joe Flacco took all the first team reps at Thursday’s practice, half on Friday, and all of the first team reps today, so game prep should not be an issue. Monday will be Flacco’s third start for the Jets this year. In the previous two the Jets scored a combined total of ten points.