The New York Jets announced on Friday quarterback Sam Darnold will not play in Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles due to complications with mononucleosis. Darnold returned to practice this week and the hope was he would be able to play in the Week Five contest. But Darnold and the Jets want to make sure he’s 100 percent healthy before they put him back in action.
“I want to make sure I’m safe out there and that, you know, I’m not going to die,” Darnold said in a news conference on Thursday via Yahoo Sports.
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One of the common symptoms of mono is an enlarged spleen and it could rupture if Darnold gets hit in the midsection. According to Rich Cimini of ESPN, the former USC quarterback was practicing with a custom-made brace that protects the rib-cage area. But as of Monday, Darnold still had swelling in his spleen.
“I feel like I’m good enough to play,” Darnold said. “My energy is great. I’m having fun out there. I’m having a good time in the huddle, breaking the huddle, just playing football. It’s good to be back from that standpoint. I feel like I’m good to go, but obviously there are some things that need to get cleared before that happens.”
Darnold was diagnosed with mono in the second week of the year. Trevor Siemian took Darnold’s place in the second game of the season against the Cleveland Browns, but he suffered a season-ending ankle injury. Luke Falk is now the starting quarterback and in two games he has thrown for 268 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception.
“The labs didn’t come back the way we were hoping,” Jets heads coach Adams Gase said during his Friday press conference via CBS Sports. “It’s close, but it’s not where we need to be.”
“He tried to do everything he could,” Gase added. “He did everything he was asked to do. He did everything the doctors told him to do. It just didn’t work out for him.”
Darnold was drafted by the Jets No. 3 overall in the 2018 draft. In 13 games last year, Darnold led the Jets to four wins and he completed 58 percent of his passes while throwing for 2,865 yards, 17 touchdowns and 15 interceptions with a 77.6 passer rating. In this year’s season opener, Darnold threw for 175 yards and one touchdown in the Jets’ 17-16 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
