The N.Y Jets playoff chances have taken a huge blow with franchise QB Sam Darnold out of action for a few weeks after being diagnosed with mono.
Sam Darnold Out of Action for A Few Weeks
It looks like the N.Y Jets will have to do without their franchise quarterback Sam Darnold for a few weeks. There’s a possibility that he might not be back until week five. The Jets have an early bye in week 4 so Darnold will hopefully only miss two games. This comes as a huge blow to a young Jets team that suffered a very tough loss to the Buffalo Bills. The Jets had been up 16-0 in the second half but would ultimately lose the game.
Sam Darnold was not very good in the game only throwing for 175 yards. He knew something was wrong as days leading up to the game, he had reportedly lost five pounds. He did not practice this week with what the team described as strep throat. Obviously now that they know what the real cause is, he will have to rest for at least a few weeks before returning to football activities.
The Jets Have Other Injury Concerns
Star running back Le’Veon Bell is having an MRI on a sore shoulder. Head coach Adam Gase says it should be nothing more than that but they just want to be extra cautious. Even if the test results come back positive, the fact that he’s in enough pain to even require an MRI means he will not be 100% when they face the Cleveland Browns on Monday night.
Meanwhile receiver Quincy Enunwa is out for the season with a neck injury. He suffered the injury in the Buffalo game and that leaves the Jets extremely thin at the skill positions. They will go into this game very short handed on offense. The Jets aren’t exactly an offensive powerhouse to begin with so these loses will put this team in a very tough spot moving forward. New head coach Adam Gase has his work cut out for him to say the least.
The AFC East Will Not Wait
Winning the AFC is never even a conversation the Jets can as long as Brady and Belichik are still around so that isn’t in jeopardy. The fact that their first loss of the season is to their direct rival for a playoff spot is a major problem. If the Jets have any prayer of making the playoffs, they have to win their games against the Dolphins and Bills. The Dolphins look like the worst team in the league so the Jets need to keep up with the Bills. If they’re going to do that, they’ll need Sam Darnold to come back as fast as possible.
If they get lucky and he is ready to go by week 5, he’ll be back just in time to play the Eagles in Philadelphia. After that they come home to play the Patriots and Cowboys back to back. Although that’s a brutal stretch, they have a lot of winnable games after that. This team was never a sure thing to make the playoffs anyway but it’s shame to see their young quarterback have his progressed slowed down by a non football injury.
