To nobody’s surprise, Bill Belichick slammed the New York Jets amid Sam Darnold’s recent success.
Appearing on his weekly “Pat McAfee Show” spot, the former New England Patriots head coach said that New York is the only team that did not “like” Darnold.
“Everybody has liked Darnold except the Jets,” Belichick said. “It seems like Carolina (Panthers), the people I have talked to, they really liked him. He was with the (Los Angeles) Rams, but not for very long. They liked him and wanted to re-sign him. He was looking for more of an opportunity to play and not be behind (Matthew) Stafford.
“I know that Kevin (O’Connell) and some of the other coaches in Minnesota (Vikings) like him too. It seems like the only people that did not like Darnold were the Jets.”
Belichick: Everybody has liked Sam Darnold except for Jets. (Via @PatMcAfeeShow)
Even if said in jest, there’s truth…Many NFL scouts have clung to their belief in Darnold through the rough patches. Minnesota is by far his best situation as a starter.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) September 23, 2024
Bill’s line of reasoning is immediately problematic. Darnold never played for the Los Angeles Rams in his career.
Instead, he was on the San Francisco 49ers and backed up starter Brock Purdy. It seems that the former Pats head coach mixed up Darnold and one of his NFL draft classmates, current Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Additionally, it would be a stretch to say that the Jets never believed or liked Darnold during his time in New York. The team drafted him in 2019 with the hopes of developing him into the franchise’s savior at the position.
They only moved on from the USC product when they had the opportunity to draft a new quarterback to reset the rookie pay scale.
Would it be correct to say that the Jets botched Darnold’s development? 100 percent. The Jets did an abysmal job of surrounding the young quarterback with talent. They also hired the questionable Adam Gase to oversee Darnold’s development, which legitimately stunted his growth as a player.
If Bill Belichick had followed this line of reasoning, his assessment would have been correct. But his explanation disregards the truth of the Darnold situation, making him seem bitter toward an organization he has despised for the majority of his career.
