Sam Darnold dropped back to pass on a third-and-5 play early in the second quarter of the Jets' preseason affair with visiting New Orleans on Saturday night.
Coming around the right edge, unblocked, Saints lineman Trey Hendrickson absolutely leveled the Jets' franchise quarterback just after Darnold's incomplete pass to running back Bilal Powell was released.
Fool me once, huh?
Despite what came across as a heartfelt mea culpa, Jets head coach Adam Gase obviously didn't take anything from losing starting inside linebacker Avery Williamson for the season to a torn ACL in preseason Week 2 in Atlanta. Williamson was the lone defensive starter on the field in the second quarter when he was felled by a hit to his knee from teammate Tevaughn Campbell while attempting to break up a pass into the end zone.
"Just looking back on it, hindsight 20/20, I wish I would've gotten (Williamson) out of there a series earlier," Gase said a week ago. "I've talked with him. It's on me. I'm the one that has to make that call and get him out of there, and we didn't. It's a shame because he was having a good camp."
So why in the world did Gase risk having his most indispensable player on the field at a similarly meaningless juncture, especially with the club's three starting interior offensive linemen on the sidelines? Guards Brian Winters and Kelechi Osemele are still recovering from injuries while center Ryan Kalil was a late scratch after it was determined in pregame that he was not yet ready for live action. Kalil recently came out of retirement to join New York.
Forget the old tenet about the third preseason game, that it's "a dress rehearsal" for the regular season opener. More and more teams around the league are coming to the realization that the injury risks from all of these exhibitions do not justify anything more than token reps by starters. Why haven't the Jets?
When asked if he had thoughts about removing Darnold after the hit, Gase said, "It was ... coming close."
But Gase did not replace Darnold for Gang Green's next series. No, it was deemed more important that the offense break the shutout versus the Saints' backups. Darnold hit running back Ty Montgomery on a nifty 2-yard pass play to cap a seven-play drive.
Yay.
Fortunately, Darnold, who had a slight limp after the big hit, emerged from the game unscathed. That made the Jets' victors in spite a scoreboard that read 28-13 in New Orleans' favor.
HEAVY WORKLOAD FOR MONTGOMERY
Montgomery is a veteran with nearly 300 touches in his five-year career. The way Gase used him Saturday, you'd think it wasn't enough to form an opinion.
Montgomery, who lost a fumble on his first carry of the night, received the rock on six of New York's first eight plays from scrimmage. On the TD drive, Gase dialed his number five times in seven plays.
"I just do what I'm told," Montgomery said. "I'm just out there running. Personally, I like the preseason to get a feel for the flow of the game, get hit a couple of times. It's faster than practice, obviously -- guys laying out to make tackles. They wouldn't do that in practice."
The Jets have decided not to dress starting running back Le'Veon Bell for any of these exhibitions, the right call even though their marquee free-agent acquisition hasn't been tackled in a real game in about 18 months. Bell sat out all last season due to a contract dispute with Pittsburgh.
Montgomery, then, is going to be needed to share a good chunk of the load until the Jets are comfortable that Bell is back to his pre-holdout form.
That's why I found Montgomery's extraordinarily heavy workload Saturday quite strange.
DOUGLAS READY TO POUNCE
What has Jets general manager Joe Douglas fired up right now?
The waiver wire.
"Next week is a big week for us and our pro scouting staff," Douglas said in a pregame news conference Saturday. "Twelve hundred guys are going to hit the market next Friday and Saturday. We've got to be prepared. And we are prepared. We had great meetings. We've gone through these first two (preseason) games with a fine-tooth comb. We have our target list. We feel good about it. We're excited. We have an opportunity to really upgrade this team. Like I mentioned in my initial press conference (on June 11), we've got the third waiver claim, and we plan on using it. We're fired up."
Douglas later attempted to douse expectations for next week by noting that the players he'll be adding were more likely to fill spots 46 to 63 (including the practice squad) than guys who will be ready to start on opening day versus Buffalo. Barring a major trade, which Douglas wouldn't rule out but is unlikely at this stage, the Jets will enter the season with gaping holes at a few key positions.
Defense is most pressing. The Saints exposed the Jets' woes in pass coverage during their starters' sole series. Legendary quarterback Drew Brees picked apart New York's weakest links. The Saints isolated speedy running back Alvin Kamara against linebacker Neville Hewitt, Williamson's replacement who is a feisty run stuffer but lousy in coverage. Kamara went out of bounds after a 25-yard gain to convert a third down. Even if you argued that Hewitt was illegally picked, that's not a fair fight.
On a subsequent third down, Brees saw Campbell, a CFL import who was replacing injured starting cornerback Trumaine Johnson (and others on the depth chart) matched up with Saints All-Pro receiver Michael Thomas. Forget what you read about Campbell's coverage -- ESPN's Rich Cimini tweeted that NFL NextGen Stats had him within 0.8 yards of Thomas. That may have been at the reception point, but the film told the whole story. It showed that, despite giving Thomas about a 7-yard cushion to the first down marker on the 13-yard line, Campbell was beaten by a step as both entered the end zone. Brees had great confidence that Thomas would make the play even on his slight underthrow, which made it appear defendable.
I know it's only preseason. But if you think it will be different against Bills running back LeSean McCoy in Week 1 or Browns receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in Week 2, you're not living in reality.
Douglas is, and he knows better than to guarantee fans that he can find immediate remedies on the waiver wire.
For a FAN's perspective of the Nets, Devils and Jets, follow Steve on Twitter @SteveLichtenst1.
