Sam Darnold will have a bigger voice in second year, already clicking with new coach and new playbook

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – NFL training camps are not all talk. There still is running and throwing and catching and hitting under the broiling sun, just like in olden times.

But more so than ever under tighter practice restrictions — RIP, two-a-days — mid-summer is built around communication of every sort, especially under a new coach.

No one is more important in that process for the Jets than quarterback Sam Darnold, who in his second season knows enough to do more talking but still has much to learn.

So it was interesting early Monday to see the team’s biggest new name, three-time Pro Bowl running back Le’Veon Bell, having an animated sideline conversation with Darnold.

This was the good kind of animated, as in a spirited exchange of ideas, as opposed to the bad kind that often happens on the bench after something goes wrong in a game.

What were they talking about? Darnold explained later.

“He has a lot of NFL experience, and I'm just trying to pick his brain on the certain route that he ran,” Darnold said. “I saw one thing and then he saw another, and we were just trying to communicate back and forth.

“It's a good thing for our offense and it's good for me to understand what he's looking at. He has experienced more football than I have . . . Anytime we get that back and forth it's good for us.”

That interaction, and this account of it, will be long forgotten once the Jets start playing games that matter. But even now, it illustrated a dynamic that should serve them well.

Darnold was not exactly shy last season, but he followed rookie protocol and mostly kept his mouth shut. Not only is he opening up more this time, he regrets not doing so last year.

“For me, it's just being real with what's going on,” he said. “I think communication's key, especially going through a new offense. Last year, I was just a rookie trying to understand what was going on and figuring out what this league was about. I think, looking back on it, I would've communicated a lot more.

“But now, understanding what I did wrong last year and looking back on it, I'm really communicating with [coach Adam] Gase and [offensive coordinator] Dowell [Loggains] and giving them my thoughts on what I think about plays.”

That dynamic has been a big part of Gase’s work with Darnold so far. Darnold has been handed some plays he never has seen before, but before giving up on them if they falter, he presses on and trusts the process. He does ask questions, though.

“I'm loving the playbook so far and the plays are in there for a reason because they work,” he said. “As long as I just keep growing with them and understanding that they're good versus certain coverages, then I'll be OK.”

Gase said he enjoys having a “fairly blank slate” in a young player who is open to new playbook experiences, but he also is willing to accept that certain plays might simply be a poor fit.

“You can tell when he likes something; when he's not sure on something, body language is pretty telling,” Gase said. “Usually, I'll just be like, 'You not feeling this?' And you're hoping for a ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ So far it's been, ‘No, just keep calling it.’ He's easy in that aspect of it. His communication has been great with me.”

Talk will be cheap come the Sept. 8 opener and beyond. But for now, it is all fans have to go on. So far, so good.

“There's definitely a lot more comfortability, I guess you could say, with my teammates, and I'm communicating with the coaches. Even here, talking to the press, it's just, I feel more comfortable after doing it for a year.

“I grew a lot after last year and going through that. So, I feel like I'm definitely a lot more comfortable.”

By Neil Best

Special to Newsday@sportswatch

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.