Jets' Darnold Says Consistency Will Be Key To His 2020 Season
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The New York Jets made good on head coach Adam Gase's promise to lessen the workload of running back Le'Veon Bell with the signing of 37-year-old veteran Frank Gore to a one-year contract on Tuesday.
Gore, a likely future Hall of Famer, is entering his 16th year in the NFL and is third on the all-time rushing list. He is coming off a season in which he started eight games for the Jets' divisional rivals, the Buffalo Bills. Gore has some familiarity with Gase's offensive system having played for the coach during his final year in Miami in 2018.
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In that season, Gore served as the Dolphins primary running back and totaled 722 yards on 4.6 yards per carry. He won't serve as the primary back in the Big Apple, but he does add another weapon to the arsenal of third-year quarterback Sam Darnold.
After a roller coaster 2019 season, Darnold is looking to take the next step in 2020 and insert his name among the ranks of the best young QBs in the game.
"For me, it is bing as consistent as possible, taking it one day and one game at a time," Darnold said Tuesday. "With meetings, it's just about focusing in on what we are talking about that day and not looking any further than that. Now, I think it's safe to say that we have a lot of potential, but there is a lot of work to put in still, and we're going to put in that work."
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Doing so will be a little easier with a retooled offensive line in front of him that should be better than the group that gave up 52 sacks (29th in the NFL) and 106 quarterback hits (27th) in 2019. Add in speedy receiver Breshad Perriman and rookie Denzel Mims and the weapons look better than they did last season. What Darnold does with them remains to be seen.
