Sam Darnold's Week 1 performance induced a landslide of proclamations emanating from New York anointing the quarterback as the Jets' newfound savior.
The head coach would like to pump the breaks just a tad, noting that Monday night's performance, while impressive, was just one game.
"We won one game, I can tell you after about 100 more of them whether we have one or not, right now it's a little early," Todd Bowles said, via the team's transcript. "Obviously, [we're] starting him, he can play the position. He's got to go through some things like he will every week, every week will be different for him just like everybody else on the team that's young. You grow with the position, he's not green he's very sharp, he handles himself very well and I trust him to make adjustments as he goes."
Wait, wait, wait. Was that rational perspective, coach? Are you suggesting New York fans and the media might be building outlandish expectations of the newest shiny object? Do you mean that every glint of light that shines in New York shouldn't be perceived as though it were a blazing fire from a thousand suns? Poppycock, sir. Poppycock.
"It's going to take more than a game to say that he's really good. It's going to take more than a game," Bowles insisted. "... It's one been one game to sit here and say whether he's great, whether he's trash or whether anything else is kind of way too early for that. He's played one game, he's got a lot of years to go and he'll build it as he goes."
Darnold's play in the thrashing of the Detroit Lions on Monday displayed his bright potential. The No. 3 overall pick showed mental steel bouncing back from a first pass pick-six. He exhibited the ability to make passes on all three levels, make the correct reads, throw on the move, and pinpoint accuracy.
It's perfectly natural for Gang Green fans to be excited about the future. They should be ecstatic. Some perspective, however, isn't bad either. (It's also possible the Lions could own one of the worst defenses in the NFL.)
If Darnold inevitably struggles for one week down the road that same common sense should be exercised. There will be some growing pains. It's natural. The quarterback wasn't selected to succeed for one week. He was taken for the next 100-plus games.
