Sam Darnold will miss his first game of the 2020 season this Sunday when the Jets host the Cardinals at MetLife Stadium.
Darnold has been ruled out after suffering a throwing shoulder injury in New York’s Week 4 loss to the Broncos. He returned to the game after briefly departing and was later diagnosed with a sprained AC joint. The Jets will not reveal the grade of the sprain, but Darnold is now considered week-to-week. Joe Flacco will start in his place against Arizona.
“He’s in a lot of pain,” Adam Gase said of Darnold, who threw a total of 42 times in Thursday’s loss, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini.
This will be the third time in his three-year career that Darnold misses at least one game. The 23-year-old missed three games apiece as a rookie and sophomore thanks to a foot injury and mononucleosis, respectively. The Jets went 0-6 in those games, which is partly why they brought in an experienced backup in Flacco.