Josh McCown served as a mentor for Sam Darnold during his rookie season in 2018, but this week they reunited as opponents.
McCown briefly retired after two years in New York before signing with Philadelphia to serve as Carson Wentz’s backup. Now, with the Jets in Philly to play the Eagles in Week 5, the two were able to reconnect.
Neither should see action this week, as Darnold will sit out for the third consecutive game with mono, while McCown would only see the field if Wentz suffered an injury or in the case of a blowout. As you can see in the video above, McCown was joking about catching Darnold’s virus.
Darnold and McCown grew close in their lone season together. The duo worked closely as Darnold took over the starting job from McCown and Darnold credits McCown for a lot of his growth during his rookie season. Their relationship transcended the field too, as the Darnold and McCown families regularly talked and Darnold even shared quarterback tips with McCown’s 15-year-old son.
McCown went 5-11 in 17 games for the Jets from 2017-18. Though he was a 13-game starter in 2017, McCown stepped in for an injured Darnold for three games in 2018. He threw for 3,465 yards and 19 touchdowns in New York.
