Sam Darnold, like the rest of the Jets, is looking to put last week's disappointing loss to the Patriots behind him.
As the second-year quarterback gets ready for Sunday's matchup in Jacksonville, he does so dealing with a toe injury that he suffered against New England.
"It got stepped on and a little but harsher than you usually get stepped on so, it hurt, and we had to do some things to the toe this week, but it felt really good in practice," Darnold said on Thursday.
"They're making sure it's protected and they're making sure my toe and my foot feels normal and making sure the cleat feels normal to me like it usually does but also making sure that it's protected."
So while Darnold is still in some physical pain from last week's game, he's also trying to learn form some of the growing pains of Monday's loss.
"Getting out there in the game and not executing what we had planned as always, it makes me sick to my stomach," Darnold said. "It is a tough thing out there when you know exactly the look that you're getting and you just don't execute, that was on me, nobody else."
Darnold completed just 11 of his 32 pass attempts for 86 yards through the air, while throwing four interceptions in the 33-0 loss. Still, there's plenty that the young signal-caller can take away from the game.
"I think you definitely learn in every aspect, physical, mental," Darnold explained. "I think mentally, for one, just bouncing back this week. I feel like I'm in a really good place right now. The offense is executing really well in practice, which is a good thing. From that aspect, I think we've bounced back well. It's just about going out there Sunday and executing.
"I was super eager to get back out there and just practice, because like I mentioned, watching Jacksonville, but also getting back out there and practicing with the guys, that's how you get over losses like that. But for me, it's really about continuing to learn from that, continuing to learn from my mistakes I made in the Pats game, learn from it and have those mistakes not pop up again."
The Jets QB also spoke, perhaps for one final time, about his 'seeing ghosts' comment that aired during the Monday Night Football broadcast, and while he said he's not going to change the way he communicates with his teammates and coaches while wearing a mic, he was a bit comforted by other former quarterbacks like Brett Favre and Kurt Warner coming to his defense.
"I think having them talk about it cleared my mind a little bit, but getting over a loss like that, getting back here and watching the game, and then right when I started watching Jacksonville film, in my head, I was done with it," said Darnold. "So, that's how I have to look at things and that's what I did."
Darnold and the Jets will be on the road on Sunday, facing a 3-4 Jaguars team that is coming off a win over Cincinnati their last time out. The Jags made headlines in recent weeks by trading star cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Rams, but Darnold knows how much of a challenge that Jags defense can be, even without one of the league's top corners.
"Jacksonville is always tough, they are always a tough defense," Darnold said. 'They always have a great front, Calais (Campbell), he's a beast up there, up front, so we always have to handle him and figure out different ways to block him and all that kind of stuff, but we will be ready and obviously their secondary and their linebackers are great as well."