Sam Darnold wasn’t thrilled when ESPN aired him saying he was “seeing ghosts” during a 33-0 loss to the New England Patriots in 2019. Darnold was a second-year pro and had played the worst game of his career, going 11 of 32 for 86 yards with four picks against Bill Belichick’s relentless blitz.
“I’m not embarrassed by it,” he said regarding his “seeing ghosts” comment the next day. “It is what it is. Worse things have happened to me. But at the same time, yeah, it’s just a bummer that it was live. It’s a lot more common a phrase than it’s being made out to be.”
Never mind that Darnold had missed three games with mononucleosis that year and went 23 of 32 for 338 yards against the Dallas Cowboys in his return. Or that he went 7-6 as a starter on a team that began the season 1-7. Darnold finished the season with a 90.4 quarterback rating in the final 10 games after witnessing aberrations at MetLife Stadium.
Still, all everyone remembers from that season is Darnold’s “seeing ghosts” comments and the Jets’ ridiculous mono graphic.
On Sunday, Darnold will return to MetLife, his home field for three years after the Jets took him third overall in 2018. There, he will face Daniel Jones, whom the New York Giants took sixth overall in 2019.
At one time, Darnold and Jones were supposed to lead New York’s football teams out of their doldrums. Instead, Jones cashed in on beating Ed Donatell’s defense in the playoffs two years ago, and Darnold is on his fourth team in seven years. However, the Vikings are the best team he’s been on, aside from his year as a backup with the San Francisco 49ers.
According to PFF, the Jets had the 31st offensive line, 30th-best receiver group, and 25th-graded running game. In Minnesota, he has Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson when he returns from injury, and Brian Flores’ defense.
Kevin O’Connell runs a complicated offense, but offensive coordinator Wes Phillips says Darnold is picking up on it.
“I’m very comfortable with Sam’s comfortability,” Phillips said. “He hasn’t had any issues really that I’ve noticed or that’s come up.
“He asks good questions when something does come up in the meeting room. He’s got a lot of experience playing football and being in different systems. I think you have some history with some concepts, and a lot of us run very similar concepts.”
Darnold played under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco, and Shanahan and O’Connell coached in Washington with Sean McVay. Matt LaFleur and Mike McDaniel were also on that staff, and they use similar concepts and terminology. Therefore, Darnold has a base of knowledge from which he can build instead of starting from scratch.
“There might be a tweak here or there, or maybe we coach it a little bit differently or coach the footwork a little bit differently,” said Phillips. “But the one thing he’s done is come out and be able to throw the football extremely well throughout the spring, throughout the fall. So we’re really excited about Sam and the kind of year we believe he can have and will have.
“I don’t think lack of knowledge of the system or anything like that is going to be an issue going into the season. And particularly as we’ve narrowed down this plan, I think it’s going to look even better, and he’ll be even more comfortable.”
Flores says he sees the arm strength that made Darnold a lottery pick.
“I was very impressed with Sam,” Flores said. “Over the course of training camp you can see he’s gotten a little bit more comfortable within the offense. He’s got more command of the offense.”
Flores said he will periodically pull Darnold aside and compliment him.
“When I see a good throw on the field, [I say,] ‘That was a good throw.’” said Flores. “But yeah, there’s dialogue outside in the cafeteria, in the locker room, training room.”
Darnold was mum about returning to MetLife Stadium.
“It’s going to be good to go back to Jersey,” he said. “But other than that, I’m just excited about this opportunity.”
However, Darnold’s demons aren’t his past in New York and with the Carolina Panthers, where he also was a starter. Adam Gase coached him with the Jets and Matt Rhule in Carolina. Gase has a 32-48 career record with New York and the Miami Dolphins; Rhule is a successful college coach who went 11-27 in the NFL. The Jets started Darnold too early, and the Panthers had poor infrastructure around him. In some ways, they set him up to fail.
If he plays within Minnesota’s offensive structure, Darnold should play his best football under O’Connell. Darnold is physically gifted; his demon is his inability to take care of the ball. He’s thrown 63 touchdowns and 56 picks in 66 career games (56 starts). O’Connell wants his quarterbacks to prepare extensively so they play with a “quieted mind” on gameday.
Assuming Darnold has prepared and doesn’t try to do too much, he won’t see ghosts at MetLife Stadium this time.
