MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Spencer Long is a center who’s having trouble snapping the football. This isn’t a lot different from being a cook who can’t boil water or a magician who cannot perform a magic trick.
Long, the 27-year-old center the Jets signed to a four-year, $27.4 million free-agent contract in the offseason, had — on a conservative count — at least a half-dozen errant shotgun snaps to rookie quarterback Sam Darnold in Sunday’s 13-6 loss to the Dolphins.
The last one, which flew over Darnold’s head in the fourth quarter with the Jets on the Miami 42-yard line and trailing 13-3, was the final straw. Long, who reinjured the middle finger on his right hand that has been ailing him in recent weeks, was replaced by backup Jonotthan Harrison on the next series.
“They brought me here for a reason and I’m just trying to do the best I can to help the team,’’ Long said after the game. “Bottom line is I don’t want to let my team down and I felt like I did today.”
Asked if it’s more a mental or physical issue, Long said, “It’s definitely both.”
“When you have an injury where you lose all your comfort, it gets into your head and you can’t snap the ball and it can snowball sometimes,’’ he said. “Unfortunately that happened today.”
Asked if he thinks he’ll be ready next week, Long said: “I’m going to try my best, man. I’ve been trying for the last three weeks. This game’s tough. I’ve been trying to battle through and do what’s best for the team. It’s pretty frustrating. This is my career. I take a lot of pride in this. It hasn’t been going the way I want it to lately.
“I’m trying to be as consistent as possible, but I didn’t play well today, plain and simple.”
Long said he had his elbow banged on a play right before that horrible fourth-quarter snap that sailed past Darnold and jammed the injured finger.
Coach Todd Bowles after the game said Long had not been benched for performance issues but because he reinjured the finger.
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