Sam Darnold is like most football fans when it comes to watching Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers play.
The Jets rookie studies Rodgers and walks away awed by some of the throws he makes.
“During the offseason I look at Aaron all the time, first of all just to watch some of the cool throws that he is able to make,” Darnold said Monday. “He’s really is the most talented person I’ve ever seen the way he is able to get rid of the ball and throw the football.
“Just from that aspect it’s fun as a quarterback knowing how hard the position is, knowing how hard it is to play, it’s really cool to be able to watch someone really make it look so easy.”
Darnold and the Jets will get to see Rodgers up close and personal on Sunday when the Packers visit MetLife Stadium … as long as Rodgers plays. The Packers were officially eliminated from playoff contention Sunday and there is some sentiment in Green Bay that the Packers should not risk injury for their 35-year-old franchise player in meaningless December games. Rodgers has said he wants to keep playing despite some of the aches and pains he is dealing with.
Darnold won’t have to worry about Rodgers as much as the Packers defense. Darnold has shown improvement over the past two weeks since he returned from a foot injury. He played his best game of the season against the Texans on Saturday, but came up just short in the 29-22 loss.
“I thought I played well. I thought our whole offense played really well,” Darnold said. “There’s some plays we would like to have back, but other than that I thought we fought really hard, and it’s just those type of games you just hope you can win, but at the same time there’s stuff that we can always learn from. Overall, as a whole offense, despite the outcome I thought we took a step in the right direction.”
Darnold said he needs to be more decisive in the final two games.
“Just on a couple plays I feel like I was indecisive,” Darnold said. “I think I have been seeing that all year, just continue to make clean decisions and when a guy is open just to get it to him.”