The Jets gave Sam Darnold the start at quarterback in Washington on Thursday night and the rookie played the entire first half before giving way to Teddy Bridgewater.
Darnold’s night wound up covering three possessions and ended with his first interception of his NFL career. Washington defensive back Deshazor Everett tipped a pass inteded for Jermaine Kearse into the hands of defensive back Troy Apke to end a second quarter drive that had moved into the red zone.
Darnold was 8-of-11 for 62 yards overall and led the Jets to a field goal on their second possession. He went 5-of-5 for 45 yards on that scoring drive, but the first two drives ended with third down sacks and one of them may have been attributable to Darnold holding the ball too long against the Washington defense.
Jets coach Todd Bowles told Lisa Salters of ESPN that the rookie’s performance was “not bad.” Bridgewater’s performance will likely have some bearing on how “not bad” helps or hurts Darnold’s bid for the starting job.
