After a day off, the Jets began practice Wednesday with a busted play. Sam Darnold looked for a back to hand the ball off to and nobody was there. The result was a frustrated quarterback and head coach Adam Gase knew his second-year passer would immediately spring to life.
"He was mad after the first play," Gase said. "And then I was like, 'We're probably going to have a good day.' He makes one mistake and then he locks in really good."
Locked in the rest of the workout, Darnold turned in another strong day at the office. He drew the defense offsides a pair of times with cadence early and showcased his athleticism with a spring left before hitting Robby Anderson up the sideline.
"He has a good sense of where everybody is and he doesn't necessarily have to see it for him to feel it," Gase said.
Later in situational work, Darnold and the first-team offense started with a first-and-goal from the 9. Trailing 24-20 and in need of a score, they got a few yards on a Le'Veon Bell carry before Ty Montgomery was stopped for little to no gain after a reception. Facing a third-and-5, Darnold scrambled to his left and threw a dart to Jamison Crowder in front of the boundary.
"That was a great throw. I thought I had got in the first time, but I guess that was just bad awareness on my part," Crowder said.
"When he throws it, he can get his whole body into it," added Gase. "He torques his hips and that ball comes flying out of there and it's accurate. I haven't seen too many guys throw to the left like he does. It's impressive."
See the Best Photos from Practice No. 6 at Jets Training Camp
On fourth-and-goal from the 1, Darnold scrambled the other way to the right and hit Crowder for the touchdown.
"He can just spin the football, so we just executed well," Crowder said. "I was happy we were able to score on the defense."
The offense benefited from a pick play/rub route as Robby Anderson created some traffic in the defensive backfield and Crowder doesn't need too much space to begin with.
"You know the offense is always going to get the last call, so for the most part you have to play through it," said cornerback Trumaine Johnson with a wide grin.
Although Darnold did overshot Anderson on a deep ball, he was also right on the money on a scoring toss to Quincy Enunwa despite Q being draped by Darryl Roberts. The 22-year-old signal-caller continues to stack days and the Jets' playcaller is pleased with where he's at.
"What I've seen in OTAs and training camp and how he commands everything and how he's learning and how he's trying to make sure he knows everything inside and out so he can be the leader he wants to be —I that's very encouraging for all of us," Gase said.
Maye Dying to Get Out There
Safety Marcus Maye, who remains on the PUP list, remains a spectator at practice. Limited to six games last year, Maye is dealing with a lingering shoulder issue and is day-to-day.
"There is nothing he can do to speed up the process, so he's just waiting to it feels right where he has all his strength back," Gase said.
Complimenting Maye's approach, Gase said the third-year pro is staying diligent off the field. In Maye's place, veteran Rontez Miles continues to line up next to Jamal Adams.
"He is working extremely hard. He is killing it in the weight room and the training room, everything he's done," said the first-year Jets' head coach. "He's been unbelievable in the classroom. The coaches have been very pleased with how hard he's been working and he's dying to get out there."
Jetcetera
This was the first workout of camp that followed an off day. Veteran defensive lineman Henry Anderson said there will be things to clean up. "It wasn't the cleanest. We had some penalties on the defensive side of the ball," he told reporters. "We had some missed assignments, but I thought we fought today. We brought good energy and we were hitting out there." … Veteran OL Tom Compton is cross-training at center behind Jonotthan Harrison… Trevor Siemian had a scoring pass to Bilal Powell called back, but there were no flags on his TD toss to Deonte Thompson… Nickel corner Brian Poole is a physical presence in the defensive backfield who has delivered a few big hits in camp… After being medically cleared Tuesday, Crowder hauled in a number of receptions and is enjoying his time in Gase's system. "It's an aggressive style offense. It's not so much what the defense gives. I think it's more so attack no matter what the defense gives." TE Temuchin Hodges and CB Jeremy Clark both exited early with hamstring injuries.
