New York Jets practice notes: Sam Darnold confidently picks apart coverage

A Wednesday practice in Florham Park featured the New York Jets quarterback, Sam Darnold, not messing around. FLORHAM PARK, NJ---From a "stock down" tag to utterly in control, Sam Darnold did not mess around Wednesday morning. Some would argue it dealt with his weapons returning. Jamison Crowder, Chris Hogan and Chris Herndon all returned to practice Wednesday after leaving early Tuesday for precautionary reasons. I would say, "That had little to do with his crispness." The New York Jets quarterback put forth his best day of work this summer and did so while using complementary pieces. Wide receivers Jehu Chesson and Josh Malone were still running with the ones at times and the kid quarterback did not hesitate to use either guy. Darnold found Chesson deep down the left sideline in team sessions. The ball was a little underthrown yet perfectly placed away (near the sideline) in a way that gave the weapon an advantage. https://twitter.com/RobbySabo/status/1301167735313924096 Malone caught a score on a nice red-zone concept that featured a flat-slant concept (with Malone running the slant from an outside split). https://twitter.com/RobbySabo/status/1301161338727796736 Even new guy Donte Moncrief got in on the action. Early in teams, Darnold found the veteran down the left sideline with another under-and-out throw that's nearly impossible to defend. At least Blessuan Austin could not contend with it. https://twitter.com/RobbySabo/status/1301159165495308288 The day started brilliantly for Darnold in 7 on 7s. Finishing the first set 4 of 5, he was quicker in his decisions and much more decisive. A corner to Jamison Crowder served as the big chunk play, and even when he went to the check-downs, he did not hesitate---something he's struggled with this summer up to this point. https://twitter.com/RobbySabo/status/1301155307557728258 The top takeaway was the fact Darnold took shots downfield. Whenever he saw that single-high safety, he took a shot and trusted his receivers to win in a one-on-one look. This is the Sam Darnold the Jets desperately need. Something about Wednesday just clicked, and Gregg Williams' defense had no answers. The Reinforcements Have Arrived As previously mentioned, Crowder, Hogan and Herndon returned after a brief injury absence. Cornerback Pierre Desir also returned to practice. And although he did not see time with the first team, that's OK; Williams is easing him back into action. Conor McDermott and Jabari Zuniga also returned---although the latter is still also easing his way back into action. Lawrence Cager is another of the formerly walking-wounded who returned in-full. He was doing his usual corner-of-the-end zone thing with the second team. Two guys with the spotlight firmly shining on them are Breshad Perriman and Denzel Mims. Darnold needs one of those two by the time they get to Week 1 next Sunday. After practice, head coach Adam Gase admitted he was "way off" in his prediction for Perriman---that he'd be back at practice by now. Nothing came back structurally wrong with Perriman knee. "Every time he goes out and runs, there are certain things he feels good with," Gase said about Perriman. "Then we'll have one cut where he's like, 'Ah.' We just have to keep the swelling down." Gase also did admit they are probably being a little precautionary with the former first-round pick and that his MRI did come back clean. As far as Mims is concerned, he told the media after practice that he fully expects to be ready for Week 1. "Most definitely," is how Mims responded when asked if he'd be ready to start the season. https://twitter.com/RobbySabo/status/1301149452716118016 https://twitter.com/RobbySabo/status/1301191600496836613 Cameron Clark vs. Foley Fatukasi While 7 on 7s were humming for Darnold, a big-man battle broke out on the side. Rookie Cameron Clark and UConn product Foley Fatukasi got into it a bit which created a mass of humanity. Once the scrum developed, tensions quickly cooled down. General manager Joe Douglas was spotted going over to Fatukasi after the scrum. Nothing out of the ordinary could be spotted as per the conversation. Perhaps it was simply a big man-to-big man convo about a training camp battle. Injuries Alex Lewis (shoulder) Jeff Smith (shoulder) Breshad Perriman (knee) La'Mical Perine (ankle) Marcus Maye (calf) Tarell Basham (ankle) Jabari Zuniga (quad) Braxton Berrios (back) Cameron Clark (knee) Zuniga did practice, but he's easing his way back into things. Cameron Clark is the lone player who left practice Wednesday. The Alex Lewis injury is the new one. Gase mentioned that he collided with a defensive player the day prior, and while Gase did not commit to a non-serious injury, it seems to be more of the run-of-the-mill variety. The Jets will return to practice Thursday morning before a Friday off-day. Week 1 at Buffalo is now just 11 days away.