With Sam Darnold returning to play behind a struggling Jets offensive line, it’s hard not to fear for the quarterback.
Darnold has dealt with mononucleosis over the last month, and one of his symptoms was an enlarged spleen. That was the biggest hurdle that Darnold had to overcome before playing again. While Darnold has been medically cleared to play this Sunday against the Cowboys, the team still doesn’t want him to get hit in that area. Given the way the line has played lately, though — it allowed 10 sacks against the Eagles last weekend — odds are Darnold is going to get roughed up.
But Adam Gase doesn’t seem too concerned with Darnold’s health.
“Yeah, he should be good; we should not have him dying on the field,” the head coach said Thursday. “We need to do a better job protecting the quarterback and we need to get the ball out on time, we need to run the right routes. It’s got to be the right play call.”
Darnold will wear extra protective padding for his rib cage area for the rest of the season, just in case anything were to go wrong. But the hope is the offensive line will be extra motivated that Darnold is back and will step up its play.
There are still some people who think Darnold is being rushed back too soon. However, mono typically lasts two to four weeks, and Darnold has been out for about four weeks. At the end of the day, Darnold has trust in the Jets doctors and knows they wouldn’t put him out there if they knew it was unsafe.
“When I do get hit, I know I’m not in danger anymore,” Darnold said. “They’re letting me go out there and play because it’s safe, so I’m not worried about that.”
