The New York Jets won’t have starting quarterback Sam Darnold for a second-straight week as he deals with an AC joint injury, head coach Adam Gase announced on Wednesday afternoon.
The decision is Gase and the Jets practicing an abundance of caution for their franchise quarterback, especially considering there’s no real rush to get him back out there for a team that’s 0-5 and hasn’t necessarily challenged for a win at all this season.
“I do think he’s a quick healer. There’s no doubt none of us would ever say he’s anything but tough,” Gase said. “We just want to make sure that he’s good before we put him out there.”
Veteran Joe Flacco will get the start again on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, coming off a lackluster showing last week against the Arizona Cardinals.
The 35-year-old completed 18-of-33 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown in the Jets’ 30-10 loss. It was the fourth time in five games that the Jets were held to under 20 points behind a misfiring and non-threatening offense.
“Offensively, we haven’t really done a whole bunch to impress anybody,” Gase said. “We have a lot of things we have to get corrected, we have a lot of things we have to do better… That’s as an entire team.”
Still, he’s not giving up offensive playcalling duties yet after meeting and discussing the option with his staff.
There’s going to be an obvious hole in the Jets’ offensive ranks on Sunday after the team decided to release running back Le’Veon Bell on Tuesday night after a brief, unsuccessful spell with Gase and Gang Green.
It was well-known that the two didn’t see eye-to-eye, basically since Bell was signed last March. And Gase didn’t spend much time harping on the fact that he helped put the major move into motion just hours earlier.
“It didn’t work,” he said. “It didn’t work out and we’ll have to focus on this game right now.”
