Joe Flacco needs to be better Sam Darnold insurance policy than his predecessors

The Jets signed Joe Flacco in case Sam Darnold got injured this season.

After two seasons of watching Sam Darnold’s backups stumble, the Jets came prepared this season with Joe Flacco serving as the No. 2 quarterback. With Darnold now out once again, Gang Green is banking on Flacco being a better insurance policy than his predecessors.

The Jets are 0-6 in games that Darnold has missed, three due to a foot injury in his rookie season and another three due to mononucleosis last year. Josh McCown was Darnold’s backup in 2018 and threw four interceptions in his three starts. Trevor Siemian, an experienced starter, was Darnold’s original understudy in 2019, but he quickly suffered a gruesome ankle injury in his first start filling in. That left the Jets with Luke Falk and, well, that was a disaster.

Flacco was signed with hopes that he would give the Jets a chance to win games with Darnold out. (Nevermind that they haven’t won any games with Darnold in.) Flacco has a career record of 108-78 as a starter, including a Super Bowl win. Flacco has thrown for 40,083 yards, 218 touchdowns, 141 interceptions and owns a 61.8 completion percentage.

However, the past couple of seasons have been difficult for Flacco. He was the starter in Baltimore for 10 seasons before losing his job to Lamar Jackson in 2018. The following year, Flacco started just eight games for the Broncos before suffering a neck injury that required surgery and a lengthy recovery.

Considering the trials he’s endured in the late stages of his career, it’s no wonder that leading the Jets offense gave him some jitters during Wednesday’s practice.

“Just to get out there and practice today was a lot of fun,” Flacco said, per SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano. “You feel like a little kid again. I think I have a lot left. I want to show my teammates I can play.”

Flacco will get that opportunity this Sunday against the Cardinals. While his main focus is on winning the game, he knows that this could determine his future in the league.

“I think I’d be lying if I were to deny that,” Flacco said. “I want to play quarterback in this league.”

As for the Jets, this is exactly why they signed Flacco. Going even further back than Darnold’s tenure, the team is 2-12 in games started by its backup quarterback since 2015. They’ve rarely had a No. 2 who gives them a better chance to add to that win column.

We’ll see if Flacco can deliver in Week 5.

David Fales cut after Joe Flacco makes Jets’ active roster

Jets quarterback Joe Flacco made the active roster, but David Fales was cut.

Even though Joe Flacco will not ready for the start of the regular season, he still made the Jets’ active roster.

Flacco is coming off neck surgery that kept him out all of Jets training camp. The expectation is that he’ll be ready for contact in a couple of weeks and he’ll only miss the first few games of the regular season.

The Jets were put in a tricky situation with Flacco. It was either place him on the PUP list, which would’ve kept him out for six weeks, or put him on the 53-man roster. New York went with the latter because it does not expect Flacco to be out too long.

With Flacco unable to backup Sam Darnold for the first few games, James Morgan will be the No. 2 quarterback. It comes as a surprise that the won the backup job over David Fales, who was cut. The Jets also cut QB Mike White.

The Jets can retain Fales or White on their practice squad if they clear waivers and promote a quarterback for any games Flacco misses.

Adam Gase has always had a soft spot for Fales because the quarterback knows his playbook well. However, Fales doesn’t have a whole lot of on-field experience and hasn’t played well in the limited looks he’s gotten. Fales has played in a total of three games since entering the league in 2014.

2020 NFL Draft: Why the Jets should take a quarterback

With the Jets in need of a backup quarterback, they could take one in the later rounds in the 2020 NFL Draft.

The Jets don’t need a starting quarterback, not with Sam Darnold in the fold for years to come. They do, however, lack depth behind him, which is why it wouldn’t be surprising if they drafted a gunslinger later this week.

New York has two other quarterbacks on the active roster in David Fales and Mike White. Neither of them has proven that they’re capable backup quarterbacks, however, and the Jets have found themselves in need of one in each of Darnold’s first two seasons in the league.

Darnold has missed a combined six games due to a foot strain and mononucleosis. In those six games, the Jets are winless. Darnold hasn’t proven that he can play a full season and the Jets haven’t shown they can win without him.

It wouldn’t come as a shock if the Jets sign a veteran signal-caller in free agency, but what about drafting a quarterback in the later rounds of the 2020 NFL Draft?

According to the Daily News’ Manish Mehta, the Jets had virtual meetings with five quarterbacks: Princeton’s Kevin Davidson, Florida International’s James Morgan, Michigan’s Shea Patterson, Virginia’s Bryce Perkins and Iowa’s Nate Stanley. All are potential mid-to-late-round picks, which is all New York could afford to spend on a backup QB given other holes on the roster.

The Jets have one pick in the fourth round, one in the fifth round and two in the sixth round. Any of those picks could be used to draft a quarterback. None of those names are going replace Darnold at the top of the depth chart — and they may not even be viable backups right away — but the Jets could at least attempt to develop their own guy in Adam Gase’s offense and hope he turns into a reliable emergency option.

A new signal-caller is far from Gang Green’s most pressing need, but with a few options to choose from, don’t be surprised if the Jets add another quarterback with the hopes of him becoming Darnold’s understudy.

Colin Kaepernick plans to reach out to Jets following fake report

Colin Kaepernick is going to reach out to the Jets looking for a deal.

The NFL world received a bit of shocking news on Thursday when a report claimed Colin Kaepernick and the Jets had agreed to a deal. The only problem was that the report was false.

A fake SportsCenter account, citing ESPN’s Adam Schefter, tweeted that Kaepernick had signed a one-year deal with the Jets worth $9 million. Of course, it didn’t take long for people to realize that the account was not the verified SportsCenter account, nor had Schefter reported any such thing.

Usually, the story would stop there, but it turns out Kaepernick is trying to capitalize on the buzz the false report created. According to TMZ Sports, the quarterback plans on reaching out to the Jets, along with some other teams.

The Jets have yet to show any interest in Kaepernick this offseason. If Kaepernick did sign with the Jets, he would compete with David False to be the backup quarterback behind Sam Darnold.

Kaepernick, 32, hasn’t played in an NFL game since 2016 when he was with the 49ers. His protests of racial and social injustice during the national anthem put his NFL career on pause the last three years with no guarantee of resuming. He did have a workout last November, but no deal materialized.

In six seasons with San Francisco, Kapernick has a 59.8 percent completion percentage, 12,271 passing yards, 72 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. As a rusher, Kaepernick has totaled 2,300 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Jets free agent profile: What to do with QB David Fales?

Here’s how the Jets should approach David Fales’ free agency situation.

Before Joe Douglas can focus on who he plans to target in free agency come March, he’ll have a handful of in-house decisions to make.

The Jets have 32 players set to hit the open market this offseason. Some don’t figure to factor into New York’s plans for 2020, while it’s safe to assume the Jets would like to keep others around for a while. Either way, Douglas has a lot of work to do in his first offseason on the job.

David Fales was signed by the Jets after Trevor Siemian tore ligaments in his ankle and was ruled out for the season. Fales was Luke Falk’s backup until Sam Darnold returned from mononucleosis. He played in two games during the season, but didn’t record any stats. Let’s take a look at how the Jets should approach Fales’ free agency in another edition of Jets Wire’s free agent profile.

Pros of keeping him

Fales is familiar with Adam Gase’s offense as the two spent time together in both Miami, Chicago and now New York. He hasn’t played many games in the system though, only playing in three games prior to this season.

He’s also a veteran player in the NFL. Fales just completed his fifth season in the league out of San Jose State. His familiarity with the offense and him being a veteran could be why the Jets keep him.

Cons of keeping him

While Fales does know the offense, his skills at the quarterback position are just not that good to play in case Darnold were to be injured.

The Jets need to get a capable backup quarterback who can come in and at least keep them competitive. Fales has yet to prove in his five-year career that he can do that as he’s been on six different teams.

The verdict

Fales may be best buddies with Gase, but that can’t be the reason the Jets let him stay with the team. It’s time to get a backup quarterback who has some starting experience in the NFL and knows what he’s doing when he steps on the field.

The only way the Jets could let Fales stick around is on their practice squad. But if the Jets’ plan is to break camp next season with two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, then Fales shouldn’t be included.