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A big challenge for Sam Darnold, aside from coming back from a foot injury, is playing his first true cold weather game.
It remains to be seen how the 21-year-old kid from Capistrano Beach, California is going to respond to the cold conditions in Western New York.
Remember, his hands measured 9 3/8 inches at the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine.
And right after this measurement some wondered about how his smallish hands would deal with winter.
“In scouting circles, bigger hands are said to be especially helpful to quarterbacks in cold weather, where a numb grip can result in more turnovers,” wrote NFL.com’s Chase Goodbread after the measurement.
So it will be interesting to see how Darnold deals with the winter that is now upon us . . .
You have to be very careful about blaming players for blown coverages without knowing a team’s playbook.
Late in the first half of the Jets’ loss in Tennessee, Titans tight end Anthony Firkser caught a 12-yard touchdown pass. He was wide open on a crossing route. At first glance, it looked like it was definitely the fault of linebacker Avery Williamson. It looked like Williamson failed to follow Firkser as he cut toward the left sideline.
I asked Williamson today what happened.
He talked about how it was a zone, and he was passing Firkser off to another player. He didn’t name names.
I went back and looked at the play, and when you look at it from a wide angle, it looks like Williamson was passing off Firkser to safety Darryl Roberts, who was doubling another player in the end zone.
Just like I will not blame Williamson based on an assumption, I’m not going to blame Roberts without knowing 100 percent.
But I’m just telling you that Williamson told me he was passing the player along in a zone concept to another player.
So it might have been Roberts.
And keep in mind this was just Roberts second game at safety, so he might not have been sure about his assignment. Not sure if this was the case, but it’s food for thought . . .
I don’t read the Daily News, but I’m told they had a story about the bad relationship between Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan and how they haven’t always been on the same page. I told you guys about this in the off-season.
Two league sources (and really good ones), told me there was a stretch of time they weren’t speaking to each other. The first source told me last January at the Senior Bowl in Mobile.
And then a few months later, another source said to me, “What’s going on with the Jets GM and coach?” And he told me the same thing.
I do think they did start speaking again. I saw them walk off the field this summer talking, and I actually saw them having a long chat on the practice field today. So I think there was detente.
But shotgun marriages, forced by management, between general managers and coaches, often don’t work out. And this one has been rocky.
December 6, 2018
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