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LOS ANGELES – Speculation swirls every day about what will happen with Sam Darnold. Will he still play for the Jets in 2021? Will it be exchanged? Everyone wants to know.
Meanwhile, the topic of this endless sports radio chat quietly unfolds in his offseason business at his home in Southern California.
According to close confidants, Darnold, who has three years in a Jets career that has been anything but successful since being drafted No.3 overall in 2018, has handled his career uncertainty with the same balanced maturity. that he managed the -Adversity on the ground.
Jordan Palmer is a longtime friend of Darnold’s and he’s also his offseason quarterback coach, the founder of the QB Summit, a widely advertised training program that has helped develop people like Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson. and Josh Allen.
Palmer, in an exclusive interview with The Post during a break from one of his beach workouts last weekend in Dana Point, Calif., Remains very optimistic about Darnold’s career.
“I’m as biased as possible, but I’ll keep it [bleeping] real here: I have more confidence in Sam at this point in his career that he will reach his potential than I did three years ago, ” Palmer said. “He was hardened by the difficulty of his first three years and by some of the challenges he encountered. I saw him grow up with it the way he handled it.
“These are new situations for him. He hadn’t been part of a team that didn’t win. He has always been a very good player in a very good team. And that’s not how the first three years with the Jets erupted.
“I believe Sam is one of the most talented young quarterbacks in the league, and like all good, talented quarterbacks, he needs to have a great offseason and improve. ”
Palmer praised how Darnold has finished the past two seasons, going 6-2 in the last eight games of 2019 after the team started 1-7 and going 2-1 last season after the start 0-13.
“My logo is a peak, a mountain range,” Palmer said. “This is your trip. I haven’t seen a bottom-up quarterback – perfect, great, at the end you get the championship and all the money and kudos. What guys need to do is navigate their journey. ”
Former Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is another close confidant of Darnold, who was also trained by Palmer and still works with him on occasion. Sanchez said his interest in the Jets remained keen “because of Sam”.
“He’s my neighbor, I love the kid and I want him to do well … and he’s at the heart of the matter,” Sanchez told the Post. “I’ve literally been where he was – hitting shoulder, trying to fight injuries, is he playing, isn’t he playing?” We have somehow oddly similar situations – two kids who grew up on the streets of each other. ”
Sanchez’s career arc was quite the opposite of Darnold’s to date in that Sanchez had his best success early on and struggled later. Sanchez’s hope is that Darnold’s career is a reverse version of his.
“We entered the league on two very different teams,” Sanchez said. “Sam was drafted high because the team weren’t good the year before. I was drafted because they traded for me and they were 9-7 the year before I arrived. So I have to go to a team that had a lot of talent and a great offensive line. ”
Sanchez said he “constantly offered some of my advice” to Darnold, reminding him, “Dude, I’m here for you.”
Sanchez, like Palmer, is convinced that Darnold’s best football is ahead of him, but he thinks it could come better with a change of scenery. Sanchez has lived in a world of the Jets where fan perceptions are cemented and can no longer survive.
Sanchez, however, thinks Darnold wants to stay with the Jets, making a fresh start with the new coaching regime, head coach Robert Saleh and offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur.
Palmer is torn on this subject.
“Part of me wants Sam to finish what he started and do it right, and part of me would love to see him change the scenery, because I’ve seen it work so well for others,” said Palmer. “This league is a league in the right place at the right time and a league in the wrong place at the wrong time. The right guy in the right situation has a chance to be in the mix at the end.
“With Sam, it just hasn’t happened yet, and it will. And I can honestly say the right place at the right time could be this year with the Jets. Or it could be somewhere else. ”
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