Sam Darnold has already had an effect on the Jets — even the usually stoic Todd Bowles broke out and showed some personality Friday.
The Jets coach was asked how his new quarterback looked on the first day of the team’s rookie minicamp. Bowles laughed a little and then began to shout.
“He was great! I want him to play right now!” Bowles exclaimed, slapping his left hand down on the lectern for emphasis.
“I borrowed somebody’s personality for a moment,” he then joked.
Bowles was joking around, of course. No one was putting Darnold in Canton off one sloppy session that included 45 players the Jets were trying out and teammates Darnold had just met the night before.
The 20-year-old would-be franchise savior made plenty of nice throws in the session and he had the hiccups you would expect. There were three fumbled snaps, an interception off a tipped pass and a few throws that were misplaced. But Darnold also showed some of the things that made him the No. 3 pick in the NFL draft. He showed he could throw a nice deep ball and made some plays with his feet, showing he could throw on the run. After one crossing route to Gio Pascascio, Darnold was greeted by offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates with an enthusiastic high five and praise.
This was just the first step for Darnold with the Jets and a tiny one at that. The Jets just want Darnold to begin learning their playbook during this three-day minicamp and get used to their terminology. The next phase of his time with the Jets comes at the end of this month when he will be working with the veterans. Then comes training camp and the preseason.
The Jets have been clear since drafting Darnold that he will have a chance to start in Week 1 if he comes along fast enough.
“He’s going to learn as he goes and he’s going to get the reps as he goes,” Bowles said. “We’ll make that determination through preseason and see where we are at the end of it. But we’re not holding him back. We’re not rushing him at the same time, but we’re not holding him back at all.”
The rookies arrived on Thursday and had some meetings. Back at the hotel, Darnold worked through the playbook with some of his campmates. On Friday morning, he was on the 6:45 a.m. bus to the Jets training center. After some medical tests, Darnold had meetings and then took the field in the afternoon for a two-hour practice session.
“I’m coming in here and I don’t know anything … so I have to absorb as much as I can,” Darnold said. “Some of these [veteran] guys, some of the receivers, all of the linemen and everything, they’ve been here for four or five years, some of them more than that. I’m behind schedule, so I need to get on page with everyone and understand the playbook as fast as possible.”
Darnold knows the expectations are high for him to be the franchise quarterback the Jets have been searching for since Joe Namath left town four decades ago.
“I embrace it, but I understand that every single day it’s a process,” he said. “You’ve got to come in here and earn respect. I’m not going to come in here and demand it. Just coming in here and understanding the position I am in. I’m a rookie. I understand that, but at the same time I know I’m a quarterback and that I’ve got to be a leader on the field and off it.”
TE Chris Herndon, the team’s fourth-round pick, participated in individual drills Friday, but not team drills. He is recovering from surgery to repair a torn MCL in his left knee last fall.
The Jets are losing their college scouting director, Matt Bazirgan, to the Texans, with which he is taking a front office position, according to the Houston Chronicle.