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With Sam Darnold very likely to miss Sunday’s game against the Bills because of the sprained right foot he suffered in the Jets’ loss to the Dolphins, veteran backup Josh McCown is poised to start his first game this season.
When we last left McCown as a starting quarterback, he was standing — his eyes red with tears — at a podium for a postgame press conference last December in Denver, where the Broncos had just beaten McCown and the Jets 23-0.
McCown had broken his right (throwing) hand and, knowing he was out for the rest of the season, he was overcome with the emotions that he might have thrown his final NFL pass after 15 years with eight teams and 95 games.
McCown, who came to the Jets before the 2017 season after having compiled a 2-20 record as a starter in his previous three seasons, had been enjoying a career resurrection and had become one of the feel-good stories in the NFL, completing 67.3 percent of his passes with 18 TDs, nine INTs and a 94.5 passer rating.
So there he was, facing the end to one of the most rewarding seasons of his career and, possibly, the end of his career.
“For the last four to five years it’s been year to year for me and I just didn’t know and I was just kind of flooded with everything, wondering, ‘Wow, is this it? It’s been a heck of a run,’ ’’ McCown, 39, told The Post on Wednesday. “I’m not good at hiding those emotions. The thing I remember most was hating not finishing the game, because it had been year to year for me and you want to finish with your guys out there.”
“McCown will face the 2-7 Bills having not thrown a regular-season pass in 2018 and having thrown only nine passes in just 19 preseason plays. His task this season has been strictly as a mentor to Darnold, and he’s been invaluable in that role — worth every penny of the $10 million the team is paying him.
Now, McCown’s task will be to help the Jets end their three-game losing streak and produce more than the 11 points per game they’ve averaged in the last three games.
If he’s able to do that, would that provide some closure that he was robbed of that December night in Denver?
“I just want to go out and play the best football I can and help us win the game, because that’s what our team needs right now,’’ he said. “If we do that, afterward I’ll appreciate that, because that was my job for the 2018 Jets as the backup quarterback. You always want to look back on the season and think that you did your job, did what you were supposed to do.’’
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