We all want it yesterday.
Jets fans, starving for their team to make the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, want it yesterday.
Todd Bowles and his Jets coaching staff, cognizant that they may be coaching for the right to coach in 2019 and beyond, want it yesterday.
General manager Mike Maccagnan and his staff of scouts and personnel people want it yesterday to validate the No. 3-overall draft pick investment.
Sam Darnold is no different. He, too, wants it yesterday — though he’s the only member of the Jets who doesn’t need to be in any real rush to fulfill his potential this year because he’s on his NFL honeymoon.
To say not a lot is expected of Darnold wouldn’t be fair, because any quarterback drafted that high and becomes an immediate starter faces expectations.
But, because of the mature-beyond-his-21-years way in which he’s conducted himself and because virtually all talent evaluators are unanimous in their opinions about his upside, Darnold hasn’t faced a lot of criticism. This is, essentially, a free year for him and his development.
Herein lie the two biggest reasons to admire Darnold, though:
— He doesn’t act as if this is a developmental year for him. He’d be as hard on himself if he were 5-3 at the halfway point of his first NFL season as he is at 3-5 entering Sunday’s road game against the Dolphins.
— And, unlike most young quarterbacks (Where have you gone, Mark Sanchez?), Darnold rarely makes the same mistake twice.
“To me, that’s progress,’’ veteran backup quarterback Josh McCown, Darnold’s mentor, said Wednesday. “That’s what you’ve got to have to play any position to survive in this league. I think that’s the reason for optimism: Whatever the outcome is, he’s going to grow from every play — positive or negative.“That’s why I think he earned the right to start the season, because you could see, way back in OTAs, that he wasn’t going to make the same mistakes.’’
McCown said Darnold “understands” this is a honeymoon year for him, “but the intensity in which he works at it would suggest otherwise.’’
“He works as if the urgency is right now,’’ McCown said.
It’s been far from perfect for Darnold — who’s tied for the NFL lead with 10 interceptions, is completing a league-low 55.2 percent of his passes and hasn’t gotten his team into the end zone often enough.
Statistics aside, though, there seems to be so much more to Darnold than the numbers show.
Jared Goff lost his first seven games as a starter his rookie year with the Rams, completing 54.6 percent of his passes with five touchdowns and seven interceptions along the way. Now, two seasons later, he’s quarterbacking a team many view as a Super Bowl favorite.
Carson Wentz went 7-9 in his rookie season in Philadelphia with 16 TDs and 14 INTs, and a year later went 11-2 with 33 TDs and seven INTs before getting hurt prior to the Eagles run to win the Super Bowl last season.
There, of course, are the outliers like Houston’s Deshaun Watson, who was tearing up the NFL in his rookie year last season before he tore up his knee.
Darnold said he hasn’t studied the rookie years of other young quarterbacks, but he did say, “I remember from watching guys’ first year in the NFL is usually a tough one, so I’m aware of that.’’
“But at the same time,’’ he said, “we have certain standards here and expectations of winning, so I don’t really use that as an excuse. But sure, I’m aware of certain struggles guys had in their first year, but also guys who did really well like Deshaun last year.’’
That this season hasn’t looked tough for Darnold is testament to how steadily he has progressed.“I think I’ve done a good job of being able to learn from the film, learn from my mistakes,’’ he said.
Asked how he measures progress for himself, Darnold said, “Completions and not turning the ball over.’’
That would be a lot easier for Darnold if he wasn’t throwing to a bunch of receivers who are essentially fresh off the street, because of injuries to starters Quincy Enunwa and Robby Anderson.
“He’s playing with guys he wasn’t playing with at the beginning of the year, so there are a lot of moving parts right now,’’ Enunwa said Wednesday.
Receiver Deontay Burnett, a USC teammate of Darnold’s who was recently signed off the practice squad to the regular roster, marveled at what he’s seen from his friend.
“He was already a great leader, but to come here and handle a locker room full of grown men … he’s become an even better leader,’’ Burnett said. “He’s just the same guy, always level-headed and he doesn’t let the moment get too big for him.’’
It all bodes well for the Jets — even if it comes tomorrow instead of yesterday.