Sam Darnold on struggles: 'Quite frankly, I'm just playing stupid'

Sam Darnold looked totally beaten following Sunday’s four-interception game at Miami. The rookie quarterback was even more frustrated with his performance after watching tape of the game.

Darnold was brutally honest about his play in the Jets’ 13-6 loss. He sounded as fed up with himself as Jamal Adams was with everything after the Jets dropped their third straight game.

“Quite frankly, I’m just playing stupid,” Darnold said on a conference call Monday. “I thought I played stupid football yesterday. I just got to be better. I know that. Coaches know that. Everyone knows it.”

Darnold endured the worst game of his young career in the deflating defeat. He didn’t lead the offense into the end zone and got to the red zone only once. The game's lone touchdown came when Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker returned Darnold’s second interception for a touchdown.

Darnold acknowledged he didn’t see the field well, forced some passes and was “getting in my own head.” This is all part of being a rookie, but he showed maturity by shouldering the blame for this loss.

“I just got to play smarter, play better,” he said. “I definitely feel like I forced some things, but at the time I feel like there were some throws where I was second-guessing myself and I could have pulled the trigger.

“Looking back on the tape, and this is the frustrating part for me, is our O-line blocked really well. We were able to run the ball. It was just me turning the ball over. If I don’t turn the ball over, I feel like we've got a good chance to win the ballgame. If I don’t turn the ball over, I feel like it’s a different story.”

Darnold can’t take all the blame for the Jets’ recent offensive struggles, but as the quarterback he has a big responsibility in it. The Jets (3-6) have scored 17, 10 and six points in their three-game losing streak. In that time, Darnold has completed 52 of 110 passes for 588 yards, two touchdowns and seven interceptions, with a passer rating of 43.3. He leads the NFL with 14 interceptions.

Todd Bowles said Darnold made some bad throws Sunday, but he still believes in him. Bowles was asked Monday whether there was a scenario, barring injury, that he would consider making a switch to Josh McCown, and he responded, “Not at this time, no.” But Bowles is worried about the offense after three straight duds.

Among the teams that didn’t have a bye the last three weeks, only the Bills, the Jets’ next opponent, have scored fewer points. Buffalo totaled 20 in its last three games.

“Very concerned,” Bowles said. “Because we didn’t score a bunch of points the last three weeks, and we got to find a way to execute better and get it right.

“We need to execute better. It’s up to the coaches to draw up the plays for the players to run. It’s up to the players to execute as a whole. We just have to execute better.”

Darnold says it starts with him. The Jets are trying to win games, but this season more than anything is about his development. How he bounces back from this stretch will be huge.

Taking ownership certainly seems to be a positive step for Darnold, who also believes that seeing what he did wrong will help him long term.

“There’s some stuff that I could fix,” he said. “I watched the tape. I got better today in terms of watching it and knowing what to do and what not to do. I thought I definitely grew today, but it was definitely tough to watch.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.