Despite uproar over 'ghosts' comment airing, Sam Darnold would wear mic again
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In the grand scheme of things, Sam Darnold’s “I’m seeing ghosts” comment was pretty innocuous.
But, because the NFL operates in a world in which anyone is scared to show any personality, it became a big deal. Jets running back Le’Veon Bell said he was upset that the comment aired during an ugly loss to the Patriots on “Monday Night Football” when Darnold was mic’ed up. An NFL Films representative on hand usually OKs what makes the broadcast. Jets coach Adam Gase threatened that his team might not cooperate with wearing microphones during games anymore.
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It has been a big overreaction because that’s what the NFL does when something moderately interesting happens. The person who seems least affected by it all is Darnold himself.
Sam Darnold unbothered by ‘ghosts’ controversy
Darnold met with the media on Thursday and considering the awful performance he had on Monday night, he handled it very well.
On the issue of his “ghosts” comment being broadcast to the world, he really didn’t seem concerned.
“It is what it is. For me, especially in the football world, that term gets thrown around a little bit,” Darnold said. “For me, it was a moment in time, especially in the game, I wasn’t seeing things as clearly as I hoped I would. That’s kind of what that meant. Nothing more or less than that.”
Darnold was asked if, like Gase, he wants to rebel against the idea of wearing a microphone. He basically shrugged, and said he’d do it again.
“I’m going to continue to be myself,” Darnold said. “If I start worrying about that kind of stuff, I’m worrying about the wrong things.”
Darnold learning from Patriots game
Darnold isn’t very emotional. He can even come off as bland at times. On a week like this, in the New York market, that’s for the best.
Darnold had four interceptions and had a ghastly 3.6 passer rating. And when he spoke to the media on Thursday, he owned it. He took all the responsibility on himself. That’s what you want from your quarterback, and it’s impressive from a quarterback as young as Darnold. Darnold said the Jets had a good plan to deal with the Patriots’ all-out blitz, and he didn’t execute it.
“Getting out there in a game and not executing what we planned makes me sick to my stomach,” Darnold said. “It’s a tough thing out there when you know the look you’re getting and you don’t execute. That’s on me, and nobody else.”
Darnold said he’s in “a good place” mentally after the Patriots debacle. Sometimes games that bad can linger a long time. Darnold was impressive in talking to the media after a rough game, and hopefully that’s a good sign for the Jets.
“It’s about continuing to learn from that, continuing to learn from the mistakes I made in the Pats game and learn from it and not have those mistakes pop up again,” Darnold said.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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