RICHMOND, Va. — For the second straight day, Sam Darnold was the Jets quarterback taking most of the practice reps.
Darnold got 22 reps, 14 with the first team, during Monday’s joint practice with the Redskins. It appears Darnold will start Thursday’s preseason game against the Redskins, although Jets coach Todd Bowles will not say that.
Bowles said on Monday that his depth chart remains the same, meaning Josh McCown is No. 1, Teddy Bridgewater is No. 2 and Darnold is third. Bowles was asked if he will update that depth chart throughout camp and he said no.
“I’ll probably wait until the end to make my decision,” Bowles said.
Darnold had a practice with some ups and downs on Monday. He made one beautiful throw when he rolled to his left and fit a perfect pass into a tight window to Andre Roberts. He also connected with Robby Anderson on a nice deep pass. But there were a few misfires and one near interception in team drills. It is about what you would expect right now from the player drafted No. 3 overall in April.
As for the other quarterbacks, Bridgewater took 16 reps, five with the starters, and McCown got only four reps, all with the starters.
A day after a fight-filled practice, both teams were on their best behavior. There was one minor dustup that the coaches ended quickly. But both teams listened to their coaches and cut out the fighting.
“I thought we got good work in on both sides,” Bowles said. “They did a good job. We did a good job. That’s how it’s supposed to be run. We’ll get more good work tomorrow.”
The one glaring hole on this Jets team is at edge rusher. The Jets are rotating players through that position trying to find one who sticks.
“Well we don’t have the name guy. We don’t have the Lawrence Taylor, so to speak, but we have guys that work hard and are very tough at the point of attack,” Bowles said. “You don’t need a name guy, you just need a guy with production and the production will make the name. Disrupting the quarterback is the big thing as well as setting the edge. We have certain guys that can do a lot of things right now. We’re mixing and matching to get a feel for what guys can and can’t do right now in the second week of training camp [like] we’re supposed to.”
Jets cornerback Derrick Jones made the play of the day, a diving interception of Redskins quarterback Colt McCoy. The ball went off the hands of receiver Simmie Cobb. Jones dove and snagged it just before it hit the ground. Jones has had a nice training camp and could be working his way into a backup spot.
The Jets starting defensive line was dominated by the Redskins starting offensive line in a pass-rushing drill. Washington tackle Trent Williams and guard Brandon Scherff took turns stonewalling Leonard Williams. Jordan Jenkins got tossed around by tackle Morgan Moses. It was not pretty.
Tight end Jordan Leggett returned to practice this week after missing most of training camp and he made some plays Monday. One was a diving catch on a muddy field. Leggett needs to stay on the field to win the starting job.
OLB Lorenzo Mauldin (leg) did not make the trip to Richmond, along with LT Kelvin Beachum (foot), RB Isaiah Crowell (concussion) and NT Steve McLendon (leg). … RG Brian Winters did not practice. Jets coach Todd Bowles said they kept him inside to get extra treatment. … K Cairo Santos, CB Juston Burris, TE Clive Walford, TE Neal Sterling, TE Chris Herndon, CB Parry Nickerson and LT Ben Ijalana did not practice. FB Dimitri Flowers left practice and later had an ice wrap on his shoulder.
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