Jets quarterback Sam Darnold said following his team's preseason opener against the Giants last week that he's hoping the first-team offense gave fans a "taste" of what's to come in 2019.
The second-year QB was 4-for-5 passing in the game with a touchdown pass. Running back Le'Veon Bell didn't play in the game and the starters only played one series. Regardless, the group left a good impression.
The Jets will continue their exhibition season on Thursday against the Falcons and head coach Adam Gase revealed that the team will probably give fans a bigger taste than it did in Week 1.
"We'll see how it plays out. It's so fluid. We tell those guys to be ready to play the half, and then it always changes," Gase told WFAN. "It might be a quarter, it might be four series, I don't know how it's going to go. It could be five three-and-outs, and they're like, 'We're going to keep going, we look like crap.' Or it might be three drives and it's like 10 plays a series and you're like, 'Alright, we're out.'"
The bar set in Week 1 was very low since the starters only took the field once, but it sounds like regardless of what happens in Week 2 of the preseason, Darnold and the starting offense will likely hit the field for at least a second go of it, maybe more. Beyond that will depend on the situation, as Gase described.
In regard to Bell, he might not play once again. Gase told reporters Monday that he's still wanting to work the 27-year-old in slowly after he sat out the entire 2018 season.
"I want him to be good for Week 1," Gase said. "So if that's something where he feels like, 'Hey, I need to get a series in. I need to get some snaps, I need to get some carries, I need to get some routes,' then we'll do that. And if we have the conversation and he feels good where he's at then maybe he doesn't play this preseason, we'll see."