LISTEN | Inside the Jets with QB Sam Darnold (12/28)

Hosts Bart Scott and Dan Graca review the victory over the Browns, look ahead to this week's season finale at New England and check in with quarterback Sam Darnold to discuss his play down the stretch in 2020.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Each time for Inside the Jets presented by e Y
Building a Better Working World. Now here's Bart Scott and
Dan Grassa and welcome to another edition of Inside the
Jets presented by e Y Building a Better Working World.
Happy holidays everybody. Dan Gross alongside my man Barts got

(00:27):
Bart Santa dropped a couple of gifts underneath the tree
for the Jets in the former two straight wins. How
are we doing? I'll tell you what Victory mondays um.
I think that can become a habit um. I think
is as great for these guys to show them that
they still all in. They could have easily just folded.
I understand that Cleveland was under tough situations, but you know,
the Jet took adbantage of them. And you can say

(00:48):
whatever you want to say about the fact that they
didn't have receivers. They had a very capable arguably the
two best running backs in the game. They were able
to shut them down and they were able to make
sure that they didn't turn the ball over on the
offense side of the ball. It was a complete game.
It was a team win, and I think you know
what we've been waiting for with some guys to to
take advantage of opportunities in class. I think bass and flash.

(01:08):
I think Nathan Shephard teams to flash um and you
look at you, no Quintin Williams. They were still able
to be disruptive and get to the quarterback. You're absolutely
right about that, right, And if guys are out of
the lineup, others have to step up. I mean, you
played the game. You know the old saying, right, it's
next man up. And yeah, Cleveland was shorthanded, but it
didn't stop the Jets offense from doing their thing at

(01:29):
least for much of this game against that Cleveland defense.
They put up twenty three points there and walk out
of there a seven point winner. But you know, I'm
glad you hit on the head a couple of guys
on that defense, you know, with Basham and Nathan Shepard,
who had another strong game fully Foughtokasi back in the
lineup after missing the victory out in l A. And
a guy like John Franklin Myers throw the record out
the window. And it's the old cliche that the tape

(01:51):
doesn't lie, and the best job interview that you're gonna
have is what you put on that tape. So each
and every one of these guys, not just the ones
we mentioned, but everybody in that uniform. They're making a
case to be Jets again next year. And if there's
no room for them with this team, then there's thirty
one other opportunities out there to find a home for one.
And it's a testament to those guys that go out
there and act like professionals. I mean, I believe that

(02:13):
Basham and Loubo is really giving themselves an opportunity to say, Okay,
well I can be the other guy, right. So like
if Quinny Williams is over here and you guys are
gonna go out and get a pass rusher, I can
be the other guy, right. I can be the other guy.
I may not be the ten, the fifteen sad guy,
but I could be the guy that's gonna raise havoc
on the opposite side, you know. And I think that,
you know, being able to build a back end of
the roster, being able to build tremendous depth. I just

(02:35):
like the way that those guys have been playing. They
play with tremendous effort, They play like they care, and
you know, their relentless to the ball that we used
to say playing with your hair on fire. These guys
have been playing that way. I mean that's great for
a guy like Bash them to be able to come
out and be responsible for two turnovers. You know, he
basically won the game take you know, getting the ball
out and being able to secure victory. And that's what

(02:57):
you want. You want guys to be able to step
up and situation football. And he didn't. He didn't kind
of slow up. He saw that, you know, he was unblocked.
Um he saw a Baker. I got held up. Tremendous
job by the offensive line made a defensive line to
stack that offensive line up so that he can come
off and make Baker have to hold the ball and
duck his head and he didn't see him coming and
still to have the wherefall to knock it out. I mean,

(03:18):
I think that was huge. There's a lot of Teachabill tape.
I mean, I think that all in the corners played well.
I understand they were going against receivers that we didn't
know of, but how many times that we've seen a
guy like Victor Cruz and nobody's no go for three
hundred on this. I mean, instead of making it their day,
you know, they made it there and you know that's
something to building and um, it's gonna be you know,
the jet's gonna have to look long and hard. Sam

(03:39):
Donald believe did enough. Um he's taking steps. Let's see
if he can get comfortable. Um he made plays down
the field. I mean I was laughing because look like
Frank Gore retired at he got sixteen. The Feld was
left like, hey, Frank, we still got a game going on.
I mean, if you're not gonna run the ball, can
you at least just kind of paid inswer towards a

(04:00):
little bit? But it was all good man. I mean,
what a great accomplishment for him. Um, I wish he
could have had an opportunity to kind of go out.
I'm saying, it's not a crowd. I can get him
around the applause, But I think they should have stopped
the game. Game the football went to the middle of
the field, able to virtually say goodbye, you know, to
all the fans that have supported him over the years.
He's been nothing but a great captain. And you know,
to be able to move to that rarefied air, you know,

(04:22):
being right behind Sweetness and Emmon Smith is something that
you'll never forget. And I think his son is he's
gonna have the Bible. Don said, you know what that
you got just sixteen thousand in yards. I mean, shoot,
I don't even think I've driven that far in my life,
much less run that far. Again, I was a National
Football League player, I mean, and you're right, and you
know with the running game too, you talk about sprinkling
and a guy like la Michael p Ryn who came

(04:43):
back into the fold yesterday had some good runs there.
You want to see more of him. Of course in
that season finale up against the Patriots coming up next
week was we'll hit on it a little bit too,
you know. Back on the defense though, one other thing,
and and it kind of flies under the radar. I
think we should tip our cap here to Frank Bush, right,
who's done a nice job here ordinating this defense. Now,
look that first effort out in Seattle against the Seahawks,

(05:04):
it didn't go their way. There were some holes in
the defense, we know, you know, they were having some
problems in that afternoon. But last week against the Rams,
and certainly in the game yesterday against Cleveland, Brown's boy,
you've seen a completely different defense with guys out of
the lineup, and it's a credit to Frank forgetting those
guys to all be on the same page. I think
he's putting these guys in position to do what they
do well. I mean, you look at the guy Arthur

(05:24):
led that you know, at first glance we consider a
corner because of his size, but he's shown that he's
scrappy enough, and it's almost reminds me of the old
Border State where you take your corners and make them safety,
to take your safeties making linebacker, to take your linebackers
making pass rush exactly. I think that he's, you know,
really taking the next step and this could be a
position where he could really add value to himself. I

(05:45):
can remember Martin Barron doing, you know, from a safety
to a linebacker. Um, and you know, this could be
one thing you think about. I think about Rod Woodson
moving from corner to safety, Charles Woodson. I mean this
at this point now, it's not about the big guys
that you have to hit anymore. It's about man able
to in space. And if you're used to play against corners,
I mean, if you used playing against receivers, then they

(06:05):
give you a tight end or they give you a
running back that should be a playoff and I think
that he's been taking advantage of it, and I think
they should consider leave him there permanent. Yeah, Ronnie Lott
did the same thing. You know, people forgett He came
into the NFL as a corner and then moved to
safety too. They played a lot of big nickel yesterday.
Did the Jets right? They put a third safety on
the field as opposed to a corner here, And look,
you want to account for the past catchers, and you

(06:27):
know that Cleveland featured those three tight ends. They had
a lot of thirteen personnel because, as we talked about,
the Browns were lacking some wide receivers here. But you know,
I'm curious as to what you think because so often, look,
every coach is gonna think they're the smartest guy in
the room, right, They always think that they can out
fox the opposition. But I was a little surprised yesterday
that Kevin Stefanski, who has one of the top running

(06:48):
games in the National Football League, let of course by
Kareem Hunt, who was coming in averaging five and a
half yard to carry, which was first in the National
Football League of all running backs. You're playing four practice
squad wide receivers essentially, and yet they came out there
at least in the first half and only ran the
ball eight times. For the game, they threw at fifty
three because they fell behind, they were trying to play
catch up, but at least in the first two quarters part.

(07:10):
I was a little surprised about how they tried to
attack offensively. I mean, I remember the Jets first um drive.
They came out and eight sides to throw the ball
three straight times, So I'm like, what the hell is
going on? Like, why aren't going to run the football
against his defense? You know, I think the young rookie
got an education a little bit going against Miles Garrett.
He was able to hold his own at some place,

(07:30):
but he also was able to to to learn some things,
and I think they'll be better for it. I'm sure
he won't shoot his arms as quickly and get him
swiped down. And that's what's good. Whenever you're gonna have
a victory yet you have mistakes, teach will take. Those
are the best type of WS because now guys can't
feel confident about their dominating. They can feel good about
the fact that they competed and they got some take
to learn, but they still have the joys of winning

(07:52):
a little bag of tricks. Yesterday too, when he looked
at the Jets offense right at the end around Jamison
Crowder showing off the arm strength hitting Braxton Burials down
the sideline for that touchdown. But apart from that, Crowder
had himself a big game, him and Sam getting that
chemistry back, which we know they've had for the better
part of the last two years. And it was also
good to see a guy like Chris Herndon, you don't
have a big afternoon here catching multiple passes, being more

(08:14):
of a focal point of this offense. Because going into
next year part when the Jets are trying to turn
this thing around, you would like to think that those
two guys are gonna be a part of what they
do offensively. Absolutely, And I mean when you think about earning,
you know he's been able to put a couple of
good performances together. You know, from all indications about what
he was able doing training camp, we know the talent
is there, but it's a consistency there, and it's the

(08:34):
effort to get him a football and make him a
focal point of offense. Is that is that's something that's
been UM highlighted UM and you look at you know Crowder,
Crowd has always had that relationship with Sam Donald. When
Flatgo comes in, it's not as much, but when he's in,
that's his safety vow. And you know you look at
maybe add some some competition to the spot. But you know,
Crowd is the guy that I have to kind of

(08:55):
lock up. He's he's going to last year was three
year deal, I think before the season is over with.
You know, like a lot of teams are doing. You know,
you give them that extension and give you an ease
on the salary cap and locking out for another three
more years. You know, being that Sam's going to be
here and he's just go to God and you're gonna
really try to upgrade on the outside of bringing some
competition for Paryamid and bringing some cops from them. You know,

(09:16):
it's gonna be a lot of great receivers out there
that's available. Um. You have to be and you have
to be in the conversation with follow and you know
the two wins that they've gotten here consecutively right against
the Rams and against the Browns. That's not just against
two any old teams. I mean, those are two teams
that have postseason aspirations. Neither one of them yet has
clinched the birth yet. So the Jet can at least
take solace in the fact that, you know what, they did,

(09:37):
play spoiler and they're making it a little bit harder
for those teams to at least continue playing football when
January rolls around. You've you've been on teams where you're
playing out the string, the whole playing spoiler element to it.
Do you get a little bit more satisfaction winning a
game but then also spoiling another team possibly who thinks
they're going to the playoffs? Absolutely is great to be
a hater. Right, If I can't go, you can't go either. Right, Yeah,

(10:00):
I'm gonna watching the playoffs, but I make sure that
you come with me. And that's really what guys are
motivated by, Like, you know what, well, we're not gonna go.
We want to go, So let's let's be a hater
and let's stop them from going. They think they're gonna
come here and get an easy l. When they saw
the Jets on the schedule, they're like, circle that will
get the W And then the biggest fans you know
of the Jets right now to Ravens because they said,
thank you. I appreciate you, you know, for doing what

(10:21):
you what you needed to do. And I wouldn't be
surprised if some guys get some of their charities donated
to inside the Jets supported by bet MGM, Place your Football,
Parlay's Props and Futures bets at bet MGM Sports. All
season long, you mentioned Sam third straight game that they
didn't turn the football over offensively, and he was a
fishing yesterday. Spread the ball around again, didn't make any

(10:42):
critical misspitting mistakes, got rid of the ball on time.
You know what you're seeing from him here. And look,
the off season is gonna take care of itself. But
do you think that the way he's closing the season,
if he's able to go up to New England and
have another solid performance to end the year, do you
think that that's something you can at least use as
a bringboard going into the off season and then into Yeah,

(11:03):
I mean, it's a lot of decisions that's gonna be
made around Sam. Unfortunately, we don't know if if they're
gonna go out and look at the free agent market,
if they're gonna go out and look at the draft
cap blue and see bringing some competition for Sam, whether
this later in the in the first round of hell,
we just saw, um, Aaron Rodgers are gonna be the
greatest quarterback in the in the game right now, you know,
have love brought in in a surprise to bring competition. Um.

(11:26):
Sam's responded, and I think he's been professional, you know,
dealing with this whole situation and understanding that Hey, if
they you know, the whole Trevor Lawrence astraction. I think
he did what he's supposed to. You know, if he
got a victory, that was silence that stuff. And yesterday
they locked down the second draft pick behind Jacksonville and
it's because they got wus right, So I mean you
have to tip your hat to him. And I'm trying

(11:47):
to take control of his own narrative and say, you
know what, I want to be the quarterback of this
team and to do that, I know I have to
beat two very very good opponents. Well, and that's the thing, right,
I mean, there's gonna be a lot of decisions. Of
course for Joe Duntan was to tackle this offseason, but
we do know now with certainty that they are going
to be picking second in the draft, and that just
I mean opens up a wide array of possibilities. I mean,
the team can go in a number of different directions,

(12:09):
and I think that obviously some of the decisions that
they make before the draft are maybe gonna dictate what
they end up doing, you know, when it rolls around.
But as you said, you could sit there too, you
can make the pick, you could trade down because you
know that that spot is gonna be coveted probably by
a lot of teams in the National Football League who
maybe you know, have their eyes set on one of
these quarterbacks not named Trevor Lawrence. So I think it's

(12:29):
a good situation for the Jets to be in right now.
And oh, by the way, you're talking about almost ninety
million dollars in cap space that they're gonna have to
play within the oft and and you know, with the
uncertainty involving the salary cap for next year, part right,
we don't know exactly what it's gonna be. But there's
gonna be a lot of teams in the NFL who
are gonna have to say goodbye to some really good
players because they're gonna be up against the cap. And

(12:50):
if you're a team like the Jets and you have
that flexibility and you have that space, that would be
an opportunity to go pound and to bring in some
more talent on this roster. I mean, you definitely have
to take that into sileration, the fact that you can
move down and get more assets or you can stay
put if you want to. If you say, hey, I
think at three that the best player in in in
the draft for us, it's the offensive tackle from Oregon,

(13:12):
you gotta say, you know what, I want to move
down to get more assets, but he won't be there.
Just just think about the impact that Beckton has had
on his team. You remember that the impact that the
brickershaw and and Nick Mango had on his team. But
this gives your opportunity to get to book and tackles
and allow you to address the interior of the offensive
line in tretency. If you're talking about building a Royal sound,

(13:33):
that's really what you have to do. You start with
his protection. He started to playmakers on the outside of
the numbers. And you look at Cleveland, right, I mean,
we didn't see them yesterday, but you know they went
out and signed Jack Conklin one tackle. They drafted Jeddrick
Wills the other. So they've been effective this year offensively,
scoring points, running the football. You think about Tennessee, you know,
before Conklin left, you got him in Lawan is your
bookend tackle. So I mean that's just like very tantalizing.

(13:54):
I think if you're a Jet fan thinking about what
you can then look like offensively, given the fact if
you're gonna have a quarterback that has a firm foundation
in front of him, a competent running game, weapons surrounding
him on the outside, you know, you might see night
and day when it comes to offensively version of this
Jets team. Absolutely. I mean, I think we can say
that the first real draft that you know, Joe Douglas

(14:16):
had has been a success. Like he's got four or
five studs, guys that you know, some some guys may
develop a little later in the process, but you know,
the guys that he he drafted at the top of
the market, at the top of the draft has been
producing early early on. So you just think, what can
you do with two first round draft picks? How can
he continue to build the foundation and build the character

(14:38):
of this team? Like the character is great, and I
think the atmosphere is great. You know that that that
they didn't quit, that they didn't say, Okay, well we
won't Trevor launch, We're just gonna lose, We're gonna tank. No,
they played their butts off and they say, you know what,
no matter what the circumstances is the right way not
to cheat the game is to play as hard as
you can for as long as you can, and whatever
happens happens. What's the feeling gonna be like on that

(14:58):
field Sunday? You know, for the season finale, it's a
division opponent. Jets and Pats don't like each other, but
both of these teams are gonna be playing out the string.
And you'd like to be able to say that every
guy is gonna be on the same page. And look,
you're you're going out there to try to win. But
a lot of these games we see, you know, the
clock tends to run. There's a lot of run the ball,
keep it moving, let's end our season. You know, we're

(15:19):
not gonna usually have like three and a half hour
marathons in those weeks seven team games. But as a
player in that situation, do you still approach it just
like the previous two weeks. Is Hey, I'm going to
win a football game, and however long it takes, I'm
gonna get it done. Absolutely. You gotta think that you
played a game for the love of and this could
be your last time playing a game. It's no guarantees
that if you're on this roster that you even are
in the NFL next year. Um, and some guys gotta say,

(15:42):
you know what, if I want to have the right
my contracts up, if I want these guys, that's at
the end of the roster. I need to show something.
I need to show down. I'm willing to fight, show
that I'm not a guy that's gonna give up. You know,
I'm a guy that you can count on. I'm a
good character guy. Because sometimes peoplen't realize it's the intangibles,
you know, se intangibles that people loves and tangled players
that may not be a great player, but they allow

(16:03):
other players to be great because of their mentorship, because
of the way they go about business, their professionalism. You know.
So there's gonna be some guys out there that may
get some opportunities. I mean, I want to see Cameron Clark,
I haven't seen Cameron Clark. All right, he was active.
You see what he's all about. I don't care if
he's healthy. If he's not, and I mean, put him
out there, let's see what he's made out of. Well,
one guy we won't see in that game. Bart little

(16:24):
breaking news here as we're doing the show is we
won't see Frank Gord. So what we were talking abouteen
thousand on the dot. At least that's how he's gonna end,
I mean, and then can't have that. He's got a
lung contusion, so we hope that it's nothing serious. But
he's not gonna play against New England Patriots, and who
knows if he's even gonna decided to play football again

(16:46):
next season. And look, his career speaks for itself. He's
going to the Hall of Fame. Third old time rusher.
We hit on that. But again, it's an opportunity for
some of these younger backs to get some more carries
and to get a longer look like Michael p Ryan,
Ty Johnson. You want to throw in Josh Adams as well.
You expect to see a heavy dose of thoad guys
up in Fox Borrow in the season for now, Coming
up next, we'll talk to a member of the Green

(17:06):
and White that's here on Inside the Jets presented by
e Y Building a Better Working World. And welcome back
to Inside the Jets presented by e Y Building a
Better Working World, Dan Grass alongside Bart Scott. It's time
now for our player guest segment, brought to you by
e Y Building a Better Working World. And we're pleased
to be joined today by the quarterback of the New
York Jets. He's number four teen, Sam Darnal. Sam, thanks

(17:29):
for joining us with my friend. How are you? Absolutely
thanks for having me. I'm good. Coming off a win
always feels nice. Do you know where you guys have
to get victory? Mondays? Did you guys get Monday off
or just go and take care of some stuff? Yeah,
I mean, you know, I'm just taking care of of
little injuries that I got all, you know, bruise and

(17:50):
stuff like that. But you know, we're supposed to stay
out of the building anyways on Mondays, so you know,
I get in, get out, and then uh yeah, we
had we had Monday off. Though I've been I've been
a part of a couple of disappointing seasons and The
first thing I wanted to do when the season was
over with was to get back to the lab because
it's hard to improve on things when you're in the season,

(18:11):
but when you're off, you can kind of take a
step back and see all the things that you need
to improve on. You see the game better. You're able
to take a step back and it's not like being
moving at the speed of light. How ekside are you
to kind of get back to the lab and kind
of analyze what went right and what went wrong and
how you take the next step in your progression. Yeah,
you know, right during the middle of that time when

(18:31):
we're struggling, you know, the middle of this year. Um.
You know, I I texted, you know, my quarterback coach
and then my trainer who I trained with, just everything
that I want to work on, you know, how I
want to get better and um. So yeah, I mean
I want to get back as soon as possible. Obviously
get my body, probably a couple of weeks, but um,
I want to get back right back at it. I mean,

(18:52):
obviously this year it didn't go the way that we
wanted it to. Um, But like you said, I mean
that's the only way to cure it is go back
to the lab and and get to work. It's easy.
Is it as easier as simple as your mechanics and
being consistent and trying to be you know, you're like
one of those things ten thousand hours for something to
become second nature. Sometimes you're trying to work on things

(19:14):
during the season, you tweak things wrong. It's like, man,
I just couldn't figure it out. Is it really going
back to the fundamentals and in the final days on
which how you release the football? Um? No, it's not
so much that. I think for me, it's it's just
you know, putting it all together. I think, you know,
um mentally going back and watching the tape and understanding, okay,

(19:34):
this is how it can be better. I think, you know,
the last couple of weeks while we've been winning, you know,
I haven't been turning the ball over. And sometimes it's
as simple as that. Um. But as you know, Bart,
you know, the game isn't that simple. So I think
for me, it's just um going back understanding what I
did wrong when we were losing, and UM, I think
it is. You know, it's for me, it's really just

(19:57):
taking care of the football. It's making show them doing
all the right things. If something's not there to throw
it away, or if I feel like there's guys around me,
I can't necessarily use my feet to get out of
the pocket. Just throw it at someone's feet or dirt it,
you know, or throw it away. So you know, those
are the little things that I've been learned from this
year and my three years here as a jet So
I'm gonna continue to learn. And then in the weight room,

(20:19):
I want to get stronger. Um. You know, having the
shoulder injury really kind of derailed my strength there. Um
because during the season, like you said, you can't necessarily
keep up with that strength as much as you'd like to. Um.
So that's one thing for sure. I just want to
get a little bit stronger in my upper body and um,
you know, continue to work on the pliability there as well. UM.

(20:41):
So there's always that fine line of getting you know, stronger,
but also making sure that you know, I'm saying pliable
and and everything's working correctly. So yeah, it's not so
much mechanics, It's it's more of just going back and
you know, watching the tape of myself and getting stronger.
Two straight wins here for you guys, and you're closing
the season with a little bit of momentum here, some positivity.

(21:04):
You know, I'm sure that there's fans out there who
see the way the team is playing now, Sam, and
they say, well, where was this earlier in the season.
You know what, if they had played this way earlier
in the year, maybe we'd be talking about a different
outcome of the season. You guys, a players in the
locker room, do you ask yourself this question, like, boy,
this is what we're capable of doing. You know, where
was this earlier in the year. Yeah, I mean it

(21:25):
sucks you know that it's it's coming at this time,
but um, you know, it is what it is, man,
it's you know, you you look back and you know
you try, you try to just learn from your mistakes
as much as possible and and grow from it. And
I feel like we've done that as a team. Obviously
it came too late, but um, I feel like this
team is super resilient and we've done a great job

(21:47):
of learning from everything this year. And um, you know,
like I said in the beginning, it's it's not the
year that we envisioned for ourselves, but um, you know,
we've all learned, We've all you know, grown as people.
Um and we are a super close group and I
think that's showing. You know, these last few weeks, you
died into your bag of tricks yesterday, you know, dialing

(22:08):
up that end around play the Crowder through for the
touchdown pass. Did you have a sense that that one
was gonna be called on game day throughout the week
when you were practicing or were you kind of surprised
when he got that call from the sidelines. Yeah, No,
we knew it was gonna get called. I mean, Crowder
was calling his number the whole practice too, and throughout
the week he's like, man, coach, you gotta call that one.
You gotta call that one. Coach. So Crowder, you know,

(22:30):
he's he's funny that way, and he was making sure
that you know that would be called, And even in
the huddle when I called it in the game, he
was like tapping Barrios like I got you on this,
and Barrios was like, hey, like keep it low key,
like don't give away. So um but it was awesome
to be able to see him and bury us connect
like that, and um no, that was that was special
And I didn't know he had it like that, though,

(22:51):
you know, in practice he he missed a little bit
to the left. You know, Burrious had to kind of
come back for the ball and I was like, oh,
we might need to scratch that one. Crowder Um he
was like, no, I'll get it right in the game
and sure enough, you know, and threw a don It's funny.
It's funny you say that though about the huddle because
you know, like Burials trying to tell Crowder to keep
it low key. Because Crowder was the first guy in

(23:12):
Jets franchise history to catch a touchdown and throw a
touchdown in the same game since Curtis Martin did it
back in two thousand against the Buccaneers. And I remember
that game because it was a rainy day down in Tampa.
Curtis being a running back, he was wearing gloves and
this was the game winning touchdown past there late in
the fourth quarter. But when they broke the huddle, Curtis
said after the fact he was nervous that the defense

(23:32):
would kind of key on on what they were doing
because he took off his right glove and threw it
on the ground, so he thought they would be onto something.
But it worked. Out for them, and was Crowder talking
any trash afterwards that you know, maybe he's the best
quarterback on the team, you've got a better arm. No,
I mean I said something to him. I was like,
hey man, you might want to take over for me
this next series, you know. So, um no, the Crowder,

(23:55):
I mean he's you know, he doesn't say much as
it is, but um now, I was just super stoked,
you know, when you threw that touchdown and I knew
it would work. I didn't think it worked like that though,
and uh, sure enough he put on a dime because
because if he didn't, that safety was gonna come over
and tackle Barrios. So he put it right over the
shoulder and it was awesome to watch and it was

(24:15):
really cool to be able to celebrate after What what
does this say about your team and the resilience the
fact that a lot of teams could have just fallen
apart a lot you when you always see that, you
see guys going on I R like, you know, I
don't want to get injured, so they go on I
R for for manyless injuries and things like that. But
you guys stayed together. You guys continued to grow and
I believe that you guys are building the back end

(24:35):
of this roster. How proud were you of some of
the guys and how they're stepping up and taking advantage
of their opportunities, whether it's fash them, whether it's Hugh
Wood who has been solid all year, you know Lett
turned into too you know safety as well. Some of
these young guys getting opportunities and going forward. What does
that mean for your football team? For sure? I mean
it's huge. Um, just the way those guys, like you said,

(24:57):
the way those guys have stepped up and um just
kind of forgotten and tuned out the outside noise. UM
because you know, playing in New York, you get it,
no doubt, and everyone on social media, everyone can see it. Um.
But the way they've tuned it out and come to
work every single every single day, every single week. UM,
it's inspiring. Man. And to have guys like Frank Gore, UM,

(25:19):
you know that you're around every day, and you know
the him breaking that record or not breaking the record,
but getting the sixteen thousand yards, I mean that's that's incredible, man.
And and for him, you know, he's been um, someone
that we've all looked at, especially you know, with with
our roster and how young it is, and you know,
he's he's a guy that everyone looks at and every

(25:41):
single day he's been the same guy coming in day
in and day out, no matter what our circumstances are.
He's he's been that rock for us. And you know
he doesn't say much, but um, you know he he
speaks a lot with his actions and with the way
he does things on on a day to day basis. So, um,
you know, that's one guy that you know has just

(26:01):
been awesome for us this here and for him to
accomplish that, uh, you know, sixteen thousand yard mark yesterday, Um,
it was incredible. Last week in practice, you know, did
you notice there was a little bit of an uplifted
feeling on that field in that huddle coming off of
the Rams win, your first time all year getting ready
for another game off of victory. Did you feel that

(26:23):
there was a little bit different mood a practice? Um? No,
I mean, honestly, like we've we've come to work every
single week, Um, you know, ready to roll, and you know,
our guys have have very uplifting spirits, you know, all
week and you know throughout our season, you know, even
losing as many games as we have, um, but yeah,

(26:45):
I mean at the same time, like winning, winning tears
everything no matter what your record is. If you win
the week before, like you know, you see some guys
have more energy, um throughout the week. So that's definitely
a real thing. But for the way our season has gone,
you when we were owned thirteen, like, guys were still
coming in the building and um, you know, ready to work.

(27:06):
So that's again that's a credit to the way that
you know, the type of guys that we have in
the locker room. I mean just just really good dudes
and guys I love, you know, playing football with on
on Sundays, Sam Hank Tyke gotta pay some bills. We'll
have more with Sam Donald coming up next right here
on Inside the Jets presented by e Y Building a
Better Working World. And welcome back to Inside the Jets

(27:28):
presented by e Y Building a Better Working World, Dan
Grassa along with Bart Scott, we're joined by the Jet
quarterback Sam Donald. Now, you had a pretty entertaining play
yesterday and normally we're used to seeing you throw the football,
but yesterday you tucked it under, you took off and
you ran over a former Super Bowl m v P
and Malcolm Smith, um just telling me how that set up.

(27:50):
You know, you know that eventually there was gonna be
some impact there and you better go full force. So yeah, no,
I told it. I didn't mean to. You know, it
might have looked cool, and you know, I think it
sparks some energy on the bench and you know throughout
our team. But like, I wasn't trying to do what
I did. Like I was, I was running straight at

(28:13):
him and he was kind of standing there ready for me,
and I took off to the left. Um tried to
you know, break eye contact and give him some false
acceleration to the left, and I broke it off, expecting
him to be running to his right trying to stop me,
and uh yeah, he just stayed right there. And you know,
I had too much momentum to where I couldn't really slide,

(28:36):
so you know, just ran into him and you know,
carried forward for the first down. But um, you know
I got up and Crowder was loving it. Uh you
know some of the some of the linemen were pumped
about it. You know, I was stoked out the first down.
But you know I told Malcolm, I told him. As
I got up, I was like, hey, next time, just
so you know, I'm sliding, like I don't know, I

(28:58):
don't I again, I know Bart Bart understands this, like
if a quarterback does that, you're gonna do everything you
can to knock him out that next time. And so yeah,
and so I know Malcolm was expecting me to slide,
and I told kno him. After the play. I was like, hey, bro, like,
next time, I'm getting down like that's I didn't mean
to do that, and he was like, no, no, you're
gonna man like, So I don't know. It's definitely a

(29:20):
weird situation. But um, you know again, happy I got
the first down and happy I came out of it healthy.
No to trust and believe that they watched the fan today,
that's gonna say this is how we played. We got
a quarterback stepping on our Super Bowl uh m d
P linebackers stepping on his check. They were more physical
than us in the quarterback run off over our linebacker,

(29:41):
and he's gonna try and get you. So remember the
next time you see him, he's gonna have that in
his mind. He's gonna take that shot, you know what
I mean. So you win. You win right now, you
win the battle and make the war. Because you know
what I've done is I've done some things to people
forgot I did it, and when I go back to him,
they got me. I took a couple of else but
you know we all do, yeah, exactly, And that's in that.
You know, I was right as I got up, I

(30:02):
told him, I'm like, hey, I'm gonna get down next time,
because I knew in the back of his head he
was like, all right, quarterback wants to start lowing their
shoulder like he's gonna have to watch out or also
talk on like running back. So I knew that was
the case, and you know, made sure every time I
think I kept it on a little zone read, I
kept it and I was, you know, quick to get down,
you know, as soon as I got the sticks. But
I mean when you when you think about that, what

(30:24):
it does to your team, that's the second time you've
done that. I mean, you stepped on somebody's chest, you know,
on the on the goal line as well. And sometimes
you gotta do what you gotta do. But when you
think about, you know, your ability to really show what
you can do outside of the pod because I don't
think you get as much credit. Would you like to
do a couple more r p O s And if
people disrespect the edge and flatten down, to have more
opportunities to kind of keep it and run and still

(30:46):
be safe and get down because I think people don't
realize one year former linebackers, So you have that toughness
and also too that you know when when people you
know focus so much on the on the on the
on the running back as opportunities. We saw yesterday Ryan
Tannehill able to to to to bust a big one
that is, that's something you want to add to your
game as far as getting faster and stronger in the
lower body, so you can maybe kick through some of

(31:07):
those and change some of the angles of some of
these guys because they're between the rock and the heart place.
They're sitting still and they're trying to read and then
they're trying to re accelerate, and then you have an
opportunity to set them up with mind. Yeah, you know,
I think there's there's definitely a fine line there of
you know, wanting to use every tool in my toolbox
trying to run, but also knowing that you know, I'm
not going to be able to do that forever, and

(31:29):
when I do run and if someone's coming after me
to get down and be safe that way. So um,
but yeah, that's definitely something that I always look forward
to in the off season. Like we talked about in
the beginning segment, like getting faster and stronger, all those
things in the lower body is is just as important
as you know anything, um, because if you keep your
lower body in shape, especially as a quarterback, like I

(31:51):
feel like maybe seventy eight percent of our throws are
generated through our lower body, and so that's always huge
point of emphasis for me in the off season. But um, yeah,
I think, you know, being able to escape out of
the pocket and maybe having some design read plays, you know,
that's that's definitely something that I've I've done in the

(32:12):
in the past, and um, I can always do. But um,
you know, that's just you know, it's it's it just
gives a defense you know, another thing to worry about.
And as you know, Bart like it's tough. You know,
when you have a quarterback who can run, it presents
another problem in a challenging year like this where you
know on the field and everything that we're dealing with

(32:33):
with the pandemic still, and it's been trying, it's been challenging,
it's been difficult, But do you think that there could
be good that comes from it? Can you learn something
positive from this year and take it with you moving
forward through your career? Yeah? I mean, you know you
always have, you know, with experience. UM, you know, you
learn so much from from experiences and from just playing football.

(32:55):
And you know, this year, I've I've learned a lot
about myself and um, you know, my my ability to
handle a loss and um, you know, handle different things
that have happened this year. And you always learn something
about yourself and about your teammates and just about the way,
um you handle adversity. And I think that's that's kind

(33:16):
of the biggest thing that I've taken away from this
year is, um, you know, I don't plan on having
worse years than I had this year. Um, just in
terms of you know, not just statistically but just winning
and losing. Like, we just didn't win enough this year,
and we didn't get it done as much as I
would have liked. And I learned a lot from it.
And you know, like I said, I'm gonna watch tape

(33:38):
in the off season and learn and grow. I mean,
we we've seen some teams take some huge leaps and bounds.
I can remember the San Francisco point and I was
a couple of years ago. They were a team that
have been disarray. You know. John Lynch comes in, makes
a couple of changes, has a couple of good draft
draft classes, and you know, boom there in the Super Bowl. Um.
I also look at a team like you know, Tennessee

(33:59):
before Ryan tanne Hill. So when you look at this
team and understanding that Joe Douglas has so many so
much draft equity and capital, you know, do you get
excited and you play like fantasy football with yourself, like hey,
man like, man like, if we can get this guy
and that guy? You know, and no disrespect to none
of your teammates. But there's some there's some players that
aren't going to be able to be protected next year

(34:20):
simply because of the pandemic and the fact that it's
not fans understand. So organizations are losing money and they
may not be able to protect you know, certain players
that normally would be a part of their future because
of the accounting is all miss stuff. So do you
kind of look back and say, man, you know, like
I know that we're going in the right direction. You know,
it may not you know, show everybody else may not
see it, but I see it happen. I see the

(34:41):
small changes, and I see the culture being set. Yeah,
for sure. You know, I have faith in um, this
organization and what we're doing, UM in the future, you know,
and UM, I always will no matter what the circumstances are.
And UM, you know, I'm always gonna believe that. Um.
You know, things are gonna get better, you know, especially

(35:02):
from what we've been through this year. UM. You know,
again we have We've proved it. I mean the last
couple of weeks, we've played really good football, you know,
complimentary football, UM. And you know we've won and we
beat two really good teams playoff teams, and you know
we're capable of it. Um. You know, we just got
to be more consistent throughout throughout the year and obviously

(35:23):
throughout the beginning of the year too, So UM, you know,
and I really do put that a lot on myself too.
I feel like I didn't play good enough at the
beginning of the year to to win football games, and
like we just talked about Dan. I I really do
think I learned from that, and you know I've been
able to, you know, protect the ball a little bit
more and and just give our team a chance to
win games. And that's what I've done the last couple

(35:45):
of weeks. And um, you know, I really do have
faith in in this organization and what we're able to
do in the future. You personally, I don't think you've
had a victory yet against the Patriots since you've been
in the league. So now with this game coming up
on Sunday and Foxboro, was that another thing that you
know a little bit of personal motivation, not just to
go get the win and to finish on the high note,
but for you personally, like, hey, I beat the Patriots

(36:08):
finally here in my Jet career. No, I mean, you know,
it's it really is just another game for us. You know,
we gotta have the same mentality that we've had the
last couple of weeks, you know, going out there and
you know, having good practices, putting together good meetings and
you know, going going to Foxborough and getting a win.
Obviously it's a divisional game, and um, you know the
Pats and you know, like you just said I haven't

(36:30):
beaten them, and there's things that go along with it.
But at the end of the day, like you know,
I haven't played them this year, um, and they're a
different team than what I played last year, and so UM,
you know, we always talked about it, but it is
a faceless opponent and we got to study the same
way we studied last week and the week before. And um,
like I said, just put together a good week of

(36:51):
work and go out there and get a win on Sunday.
What was the best understand it is to face this opponent.
And listen, I've been on that side, right, I've been there,
and I can remember win the Super Bowl when they
played the Falcons. I told this twelve year old kid
that was a that was a Patriots fan simply because
they wanted to be the fan of the winning team.
The same way with the Golden State Warriors, guys are
jumping on the bandwagon. I took the twelve year old

(37:13):
to the side, and I say, listen, I cannot wait
until the opportunity when Tom Brady is no longer there
and you guys are searching for your Dann Marineo or
you're searching for your Jim Kelly. I'm gonna find you,
little kid. He should be about fourteen, and I'm gonna
look him up. I'm gonna find him. I'm gonna say Hi, Hi, Hi,
because now this division is wide open, and understanding what

(37:33):
this means for the fan base. This is this This
may just be another game a faceless opponent, but this
is a huge game for the fan base. Understanding that
finally they're going to see somebody win the division that's
not the Patriots, and understand you have an opportunity to
push them down even farther in the draft order. And
you know, there's no fun when the rabbit gets a gun.
So I know you can't say that. That's why I'm

(37:55):
here for I'm the I'm the buffer. I'm a guy
that's able to say what you can't say. So don't
worry about it. I don't care about Bill Belichick. Bill
knows that he don't want to smoke with me by
sam the streets. He knows what's gonna happen, So don't
worry about That's Relish and the fact that we have
a franchise quarterback in you. We have plenty of draft picks.
Joe Douglas did a great job. And then the next
year or so, you guys are gonna be at the

(38:17):
top of this division and everybody I want you to
keep with seats of everybody who said something, did something
something to bring up the smoke then and then you're
just bashing it and you ain't gotta say nothing because
I'll be on TV somewhere and I'll say it for you. Yeah.
I appreciate that part. You know, you gotta run, Sam.
But last thing here, Uh, what was the best gift

(38:38):
at Santa left under the tree for you this year? Um?
It's a great question. I mean I got a lot of,
you know, different clothes, I think, Um, you know, Santa
left me, you know, from my house down in you know,
southern California. Left me a couple um you know, lounge
chairs that I needed for right by the pool. Um,

(38:58):
you know, and that is kind of my big gift
this year. I didn't really ask for much, um you know. Uh,
so that was that was kind of a big gift.
I got a bunch of like, like I said, like clothes,
and I got some new uh ug slippers, which you
know I haven't had for a long time. My other
ones were trash from college, so um, I got some
of those, and yeah, I mean, honestly, it was just

(39:21):
great to be able to have family, especially during this
year of of COVID and everything. It was awesome to
be able to have them come out and you know,
just spend the holidays with them. Awesome. Well, Sam, we
always appreciate a couple of minutes joining us here on
the show. Best of luck against the New England Patriots
and heading into the off season, but we always appreciate
your time, Sam, And happy New Year to you and
yours yep, Happy New Year. Appreciate you guys. All right,

(39:44):
coming up more of Inside the Jets presented by e
Y Building a Better Working World and welcome back to
Inside the Jets presented by e Y Building a Better
Working World, Dan Grassa and Bart Scott and Inside the
Jets is also supported by Selective Insurance be a uniquely
in short, so Bart w down too Week seventeen here,
and it's a lot of fun because you have a
lot of these playoffs spots that are still up for grabs,

(40:05):
you know, the NFC East, which has been really uh,
you know, like a drama filled scene all season long,
and you've still got three of the four clubs who
can get in with sub five hundred records. You got
the a f C South, which is up for grabs.
You've got playoff spots in both conferences which still need
to be hammered out. I mean the Bears have kind
of risen from the Ashes and are now in control

(40:26):
of their own fate to try to sneak in as
a wild card. It really is fun when you have
this much up for grabs in the final week of
the season. I mean absolutely. I mean I can remember,
you know, thinking that we were out of it in
oh nine, only to get in my everything that needed
to go right, like the seventy five different things actually
went right and we had no idea that we were
in the playoffs. We got in the playoffs and we

(40:47):
were able to make noise. So it's not about sometimes
the seed, and it's about what you do when you
did then if you're playing well, and styles make fights,
so matchups, so you got guys that are jockey for position.
I think it has ramifications. I mean, how do you
feel for you to Cleveland Browns and you know everybody
said this is different Cleveland Browns and you've arrived and
now you can compete with the Baltimores Instillers. Then you

(41:08):
lose to the Jets with an opportunity to go to
the postseason. You may be ten and six and not
get an opportunity, not not get not get an opportunity
to go. You know, you look at that what you
said the a f C Wildcard. Right now, you've got
four teams that are ten and five. You've got Miami, Baltimore, Cleveland,
and Indianapolis. One of those teams is going to be
on the outside looking in. It's crazy how all these

(41:29):
tiebreakers get impacted, and the tiebreakers even changed from week
to week. So like as you and I are talking
right now, Indianapolis is the team out in the cold
that would lose out on that tiebreaker. But if all
of them win going into next week, or we'll win
next week, then it's a different team that gets left out.
It's just crazy the way this all matters. And you
hate for a talk come down to one game like

(41:51):
that and to lose that on a tiebreaker. But that's
why you gotta take each one of these six teams seriously. Absolutely.
I mean they even allowing an extra team in so
nobody can complaining with an extra team being allowed, then
you have to take care of your business. I mean,
if you're in the NFC, you feel good because you
know you can have a sub five hundred record and
still get in the playoffs. But if you're in an FFC,
it just so happened. I mean, remember when the Patriots

(42:11):
were eleven and five and they missed the playoffs. Every
once in a while it happens. Everybody you know that
that played took care of business and they got above
five record, And that's just where the cars fall. Like,
it doesn't matter if you're get in it or not.
You know what the rules were for you to get in,
and it's your job to take care of business to
get there. So it's gonna be a wild week. Um
guys are gonna be happy, Um like just over the

(42:31):
moon for being able to get to the postseason, have
an opportunity to Some guys are gonna be so disappointed
that it's gonna be the type of disappointment that propels
them to be like a great team or start a
great run because of their disappointment. You think about a
team like, um, you know, Washington, or you think about
a team like Philly, Think about a team like the
Giants or Dallas. You think about you go from either

(42:53):
winning the division or being a top ten pick. Yeah,
and you ask yourself, is it more important for us
to win the battle? It's some more important for us
to win the war because we get in. You know,
we can make some noise like Seattle did that year
and they hosted a game um against the Saints, but
we also can come in and be one and done
and then in the big picture, um, how did that

(43:16):
help you? It's funny too, Rite, just with those NFC
East teams, because look, when you finish some five hundred,
you know you've got a lot of work to do
and you have to make some changes in the off season.
But there could be one of these teams that wins
a division at six and ten, and then there's another
team that could finish six and ten and not make
the playoffs. So the six and ten record looks a
heck of a lot different for that team that misses
out versus the team that got in. That look, I

(43:38):
don't think they're throwing any parades, but they're gonna say
to themselves, hey, well, at least we got a home
playoff game. At least we snuck in, Whereas if you're
the other teams, you're saying, boy, we gotta get to
work on the off season because we got a heck
of a lot we got to improve upon. No, absolutely,
everybody's on how to do a deep dive and in
self evaluation. Everybody's going to say, hey, we're wanted to
you know plays, or you're gonna go back and review

(43:59):
the film. It's hey, man, we would have just won
this game and won that game. You know, the Jets
are saying, hey, we would have beat Denver. We'd have
beat you know, the Raiders. You know, our record would
be a lot more respectable. I mean five or six wins,
you know, yeah, that's one win um from what we
did last year unfortunately didn't work out. Teams have to
learn how to finish and else that you show situation

(44:21):
of football, this is where we lost it. And you
know there's a couple of teams too, like you look
at where they're headed right now, Like we don't know
if the Rams are gonna get in, but if they
do get in, you know, their outlook could change here dramatically.
Because Jared Goff messed up his thumb yesterday and there's
some reports that say you might be fractured. They're saying
it's a pain tolerance thing, but that's got to affect
his ability to throw the football. I mean, you're talking
about a right handed quarterbacks. So then what to make

(44:43):
of the Rams if they make the postseason? You know,
the Pittsburgh Steelers just a week ago they were left
for dead that they were on a three game losing streak.
A lot of intriguing stuff with these teams, and you know,
these playoffs are gonna be fun this year, giving the landscape,
what everything going on, nothing matters, right, but it happened
last week. We're bad. It don't matter. Like what matters
is what you do going forward, and what matters is

(45:04):
being able to lock in, be able to to kind
of really focus and get everybody to perform and do
their job at a high level, because a lot of
times in the post season, it's not about teams that
that winning teams are losing, right. You know, saw it
yesterday the play where the linebacker got into a flight
with bati Ai and it led to a first down,

(45:25):
which led to a touchdown, which opened up the floodgates.
You know, those are the types of things like no
self reflictive wounds. And it's a it's a lesson. It's
a lesson in how to win games and press. And
you know a lot of teams are going to get
an education. Let's see if they can apply this education,
see how part they can take it. We got one
more of these left. Next week, bart Jets have one

(45:45):
more to go up in Foxboro against the Pats. Willis
to close out on a high note. I'm gonna say
to you though, happy New Year, and we'll do this
again next week, my friend for the season finale. Absolutely
looking forward to it. All right. That's part Scott M.
Dan Grassa. This has been another edition of In the
Jets presented by e Y Building a Better working World.
So long, everybody,