NY Jets: Joe Flacco will start Week 5 with Sam Darnold out

The NY Jets will officially be starting Joe Flacco at quarterback this week with Sam Darnold out.

The NY Jets have already been hard to watch through the first four weeks of the season. And now, with the latest announcement that Joe Flacco is set to start in place of the injured Sam Darnold in Week 5, it’s hard to muster up any reason to watch.

Head coach Adam Gase spoke to reporters on Wednesday to provide updates about the status of a number of injured players. Almost immediately it was revealed that Darnold would not be practicing today and, as such, would not be starting this Sunday.

Darnold was injured in the first quarter of last Thursday’s loss to the Denver Broncos. The 23-year-old signal-caller was brought down hard on a sack by Broncos linebacker Alexander Johnson.

Johnson spun Darnold around and he ended up landing on his throwing shoulder. It became apparent very quickly that Darnold was not right and he was removed from the game one play later.

Flacco trotted out for a handful of plays, but Darnold would return on third down of the subsequent series and remain on the field for the rest of the game.

And to his credit, he played quite well despite being in obvious pain. But perhaps in hindsight, the decision to re-insert Darnold into the game was a mistake.

Many will blame Adam Gase for the NY Jets having to start Joe Flacco this week.

Gase came under a lot of criticism for his handling of both Darnold and first-round pick Mekhi Becton‘s injuries. After playing both obviously-injured players, each is expected to miss this week despite 10 days of rest.

That decision seems to have been a mistake.

Nonetheless, the experienced Flacco will get the call for what will be his first NFL start since the middle of last season. In reality, the Jets signed Flacco for this very reason — to provide the team with a competent backup in case Darnold missed time.

After last season’s debacle with Trevor Siemian and Luke Falk, the Jets saw firsthand the importance of a backup quarterback. Flacco is likely an upgrade over both Siemian and most certainly Falk.

There weren’t many reasons to watch this Jets team prior to Darnold and Becton’s injuries. Now with both likely out, fans will have to search for a reason to tune in this Sunday.