NY Jets: Sam Darnold will miss Week 11, return date remains uncertain

NY Jets’ quarterback Sam Darnold will miss Week 11 and his return is uncertain.

The NY Jets will return from their bye week in Week 11 looking to get back on track against a 2-7 Los Angeles Chargers team. But they will be doing so without starting quarterback Sam Darnold once again.

Head coach Adam Gase spoke to reporters on Monday for the first time in around a week and gave his usual injury updates. While the team received good news regarding players like Mekhi Becton, the news about Darnold was anything but.

Gase revealed that Darnold will miss this week’s game against the Chargers marking the second game in a row that he’ll miss. Joe Flacco will once again be called upon to start, his fourth time in the team’s last six games.

And judging by the way that Gase and Darnold sounded, there seems to be no guarantee that the latter is able to return the following week.

The fact that Darnold has already been ruled out on Monday would indicate that he isn’t exactly close to returning yet. This is despite having two weeks to heal including one full bye week of rest.

Moreover, Gase said that it was “hard to predict” whether or not Darnold would be ready to play in Week 12 against the Miami Dolphins and said that it was all based on how Darnold felt.

Bottom line, this sounds like a player who could miss multiple weeks. With just seven games remaining in the season, you have to wonder how many more times Darnold will suit up in a Jets uniform.

Sam Darnold’s future with the NY Jets remains uncertain

The former third overall pick originally injured his shoulder back in the team’s Week 4 loss to the Denver Broncos. Despite being allowed to play most of the game with his injury, he would be sidelined the following two weeks.

Darnold returned in Week 7 only to re-injure his shoulder the following week against the Kansas City Chiefs. Once again, the Jets allowed Darnold to finish the game, and once again he’s due to miss multiple weeks as a result.

The injury is an AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder — the same injury he sustained back in Week 4.

To his credit, Darnold did say that he is “very confident” he will play again this year and the decision to place him on injured reserve has not been made yet.

But it does seem clear that Darnold isn’t going to take the field again anytime soon.

Darnold’s future in New York gets murkier by the day and it certainly isn’t being aided by his prolonged absence.

At this point, Darnold is probably playing on borrowed time. That is, when he’s actually playing, of course.