According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Sam Darnold will start against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday if he is healthy.
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Barring a setback in practice today, Sam Darnold will start at QB for the #Jets on Sunday against the #Bills, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 23, 2020
Darnold hasn’t made an appearance since week 4 when he went down with a shoulder injury. Despite spraining his AC joint, the third year QB was optimistic to play against the Cardinals in week 5.
However, he couldn’t recover in time and Adam Gase was forced to go with the veteran option, Joe Flacco. The Jets would lose the game 30-10 and proceed to lose again in a 24-0 blowout the following week versus Miami.
Also read: NFL Trade: Vikings trade star edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens
If his shoulder is ready, the former 5th overall pick will be back in action against the Bills this Sunday. The Bills are clearly the better team, sitting at a 4-2 record compared to New York’s winless season.
On the bright side for the Jets, the Bills are coming off a 2 game losing streak and their defense has looked vulnerable in those 2 games. New York will have their regular starter under center and perhaps have a slim chance to pull off an upset.
That being said, the key word is “slim”. It remains highly unlikely that the Jets can beat the Bills (or anyone else for that matter) regardless of who’s at QB.
Also read: NFL Playoff Race: Worst Team to Make NFL Playoffs
Sam Darnold Ignoring Trevor Lawrence Talk
Inevitably, when a team starts the season 0-6 the only thing to look forward to is the draft and the top prospect. It’s safe to say that this top prospect for 2021, at least in terms of the QB position, has been Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence.
There’s been a lot of talk around Lawrence the past week. Some of the discussions were along the lines of Lawrence avoiding New York but others involved the chance that the Jets would replace Darnold in the upcoming draft.
Expectedly, Darnold has had to shrug off the speculation. “We’re just worried about getting a win,” he said. “We got to worry about this week. Buffalo, they’re a really good team. We’re worried about this week. That’s all we’re worried about right now.”
However, Darnold didn’t deny the fact that he is aware of the rumors. “I have social media. I’ve seen some of the things. We got a game to win this week. That’s all we’re worried about.”
