Redskins' Josh Norman raves about Jets' Sam Darnold
Jets quarterback Sam Darnold warms up during a joint training camp practice with the Redskins in Richmond, Va., on Tuesday. Credit: AP/Steve Helber
RICHMOND, Va. — Another day, another rave review for Sam Darnold.
This time it came from the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, the Redskins’ Josh Norman, who after three days of joint practices with the Jets proclaimed the rookie quarterback’s skills and smarts “pretty awesome.”
Norman spoke after the last of three joint practices in advance of the teams’ preseason game in Landover, Maryland, on Thursday, while Darnold signed autographs and posed for pictures with Jets fans nearby.
Initially, Norman said, he dismissed Darnold as “just a guy” before seeing him in person “making these throws and you are like, ‘All right, that’s not so much a college-level throw.’ ”
The Redskins did their best to confuse the newcomer. Norman said they mostly failed.
“You kind of like mess with him a little bit and bait him, thinking that he’s going to throw a route you can make a play on, but he’s not having it,” Norman said. “It’s so crazy to see that at an early age. Dak [Prescott] had that. Carson [Wentz] has that. So it’s like, man, they must just come in here not wanting to screw it up.
“So far, he’s impressed me. And I didn’t want him to. That’s the main thing. I want to break all rookies’ backs.”
Norman, 30, a seventh-year veteran and former Pro Bowler, cited one play in particular in a 7-on-7 drill in which the Redskins defense “gave him some cheese” in an attempt to rattle him.
“He was going to throw it,” Norman said, “but then he pulled it back and I jumped back real fast and I was like, ‘You little devil; OK, I see you. You’re working. You’re working really good right now.’ I couldn’t bait him like I wanted, and he saw it.
“He read it out like a vet. You’ve got to tip your hat to a guy like that. He’s learning at an early age when guys are messing with him. It’s pretty awesome.”
Had the Giants selected Darnold with the second overall pick in the draft, he would have been in the same division as Norman. Asked about their decision to pass on him, Norman said: “I don’t know why, but it is what it is. I don’t coach teams.”
(Norman is best known among New York football fans for multiple tussles with Odell Beckham Jr. in a 2015 game, when Norman was with the Panthers. So he and the Giants have a bit of a history.)
“From what I’m seeing, that kid, he’s all right, man; he really is,” Norman said of Darnold. “It’s going to be interesting to see. I think he has the smarts and wittiness about him that he’ll make the plays when it comes his way. He’ll be successful in this league if he keeps going like that.”
Darnold took the majority first-team snaps again Tuesday, as he did for all three practices with the Redskins, a strong indication he will start Thursday after being the third man in for the preseason opener.
Asked afterward whether Darnold will start, coach Todd Bowles said, “All quarterbacks will be ready to play.”
Asked whether Darnold will be the first to play, Bowles said: “All our quarterbacks need to be ready to play. We’ll reveal the depth chart when we get to the game on Thursday night.”
Bowles said he was pleased with Darnold’s work in Richmond. “He’s catching up, obviously getting a grasp of the offense,” Bowles said. “It’s good to go against another team. He’s seen some things he hasn’t seen before.”
The Jets hope the same can be said in the coming weeks of Darnold’s opponents. One veteran in particular already is convinced.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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