New York Jets: Sam Darnold is opening eyes with fast start

New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold hasn’t shown a sign of rust since the start of preseason scoring on both of his opening drives. Could this be the early stages of a big year?

The New York Jets are packed with more weapons heading into the new season in hopes of creating a comfortable situation for Sam Darnold. The second-year quarterback has shown already that he doesn’t even need his biggest weapon in L’eVeon Bell with a hot start in both preseason games.

Darnold opened up his second preseason game leading the team down the field for a touchdown as the Jets defeated the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Darnold played three series as opposed to the one he played in the preseason opener to the New York Giants giving him more time to adjust to game time conditions. He finished the game 5-for-7, 46 yards but showed impressive poise and control of the Adam Gase offense.

Darnold is showing back to back weeks of looking comfortable in Gase’s playbook and recently spoke about his coach’s “crazy” way of getting things done.

"“He’s crazy in the best way. I think we all are,” said Darnold. “You’ve got to be a little crazy in this profession, and it’s fun to be able to gameplan with him, talk about football, but the coolest thing is being able to talk to him about things outside football — family life, friends and family, all of that kind of stuff.”"

Darnold has managed to get rid of the ball quickly on his drives with precision accuracy as evident in his back shoulder completion to Robby Anderson. The ability to make quick decisions avoiding the rush and most importantly putting enough touch on the passes to where only the receiver can make a play on it is vital.

The running back in for Bell has been veteran Ty Montgomery who made his name with the Green Bay Packers has proven to be reliable early in his Jets career. Montgomery scored the opening drive touchdown with a quick run in that it should be a frequent sight for Jets fans once Bell is ready to play this season.

After the game, Gase praised his young quarterback saying “Sam did a great job, Most of our guys did. It’s good to see guys doing exactly what we’ve worked on since spring, see it come to life on the field.”

Gase’s comments may not be an award-winning message, but it is an indication that the two are on the same page at least after two games.