Sam Darnold returned to practice on Thursday eager to put his injured toe and the fallout from Monday's blowout loss to the Patriots behind him.
Equipped with a protected shoe designed to safeguard his left big toe, which had its nail removed this week, Darnold told reporters that he "felt really good today in practice" after missing Wednesday's session.
Darnold also -- for the first time since Monday night -- addressed his mic'd up comments during the first half against the Patriots that became a national storyline.
"It is what it is," Darnold said after practicing fully. "For me, especially kind of in the football world, that term gets thrown around a little bit but for me it was a moment in time where, especially in the game, I maybe wasn't seeing things as clearly as I hoped that I would and that was kind of what that meant and nothing more, nothing less than that. So that's really all that it is."
Darnold had a difficult time Monday adjusting to the Patriots' use of a zero-blitz and deployment of additional pass rushers throughout the game. He ended the night with five turnovers -- four coming via interceptions -- and went a career-worst 11-of-32 for only 86 yards. It was a rough night in front of a national audience, which Darnold was reminded of when he viewed the film this week.
"Exactly how it felt in the game," Darnold said of his reaction to the game tape. "There were just some mistakes, especially early on that some things that we did in practice that we didn't do in the game; some looks that we saw in practice that we didn't execute in the game and that's really it."
One thing Darnold said he took to heart was the public support from veteran quarterbacks (Hall of Famers Kurt Warner and Brett Favre) this week.
"I think having those guys talk the clip that was aired live, I think having them talk about it cleared my mind a little bit," Darnold said. "But getting over a loss like that, just getting back here and watching the game, and right when I started watching Jacksonville film in my head I was done with it. I was over it. That's how I have to look at things and that's what I do."
