New York Jets: Sam Darnold Will Not Play Week 5 Against the Arizona Cardinals

The New York Jets quarterback hurt his shoulder in Week 4, did not practice on Wednesday.

Sam Darnold will not play this Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, the fallout from a Week 4 shoulder injury.

Darnold was injured in the first quarter of last Thursday’s 37-28 loss to the Denver Broncos. An A.J. Johnson sack, where the linebacker picked up Darnold and threw him to the turf at MetLife Stadium, resulted in the injury to the quarterback’s right shoulder.

After sitting out several offensive plays, Darnold would return on the Jets next drive. He finished 23-of-42 for 230 yards with a rushing touchdown. Despite the sprain to his AC join, it was the first time all season that Darnold didn’t have a turnover.

“At that time, guys thought that was the right thing to do, he wanted to go back in, knew what it was,” Gase said on Wednesday. “Obviously after the game, the next day, he was a lot more sore than he was real time. They weren’t worried about further damage, it’d be hard for him to practice this week.”

On Monday in his virtual press conference, Darnold said while he would like to practice this week, it wouldn’t necessarily preclude him from playing on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

With the loss last week, the Jets are now 0-4.

In his place, veteran quarterback Joe Flacco came in and was under center for several plays on offense while Darnold’s shoulder was being examined.

Signed this offseason, Flacco missed the first three games following offseason neck surgery. He was 2-for-2 for 16 yards in spelling Darnold. Gase said that Flacco and Darnold are similar in that “those guys make all the same throws.”

Flacco last played the Cardinals in 2015. He was 26-of-40 for 252 yards with a touchdown and an interception in what was a Baltimore Ravens loss.

“I’m looking at it right now as hopefully he gets better quickly and doesn’t miss too much time,” Gase said. “It was a different situation than last year when he was out of the building and couldn’t be around anybody for 10 days.”

Unable to practice on Wednesday was starting left tackle Mekhi Becton (shoulder) and wide receiver Breshard Perriman (ankle).