It’s easy to get caught up in the frivolity of the NFL, especially when we clown the Carolina Panthers about what they’ve done with the quarterback position over the past few years. But there’s a very human side to this game, and Sam Darnold put it out there on Monday.
Just hours after the team named Baker Mayfield their starter, Darnold graciously opened up to reporters about the decision. And although the competition left him as the “loser,” the 25-year-old is seeing both the reality and positivity of the situation.
“Obviously, it didn’t go my way,” he said. “Coach named Baker the starter. And my mindset is—it is what it is. And for me, right now, I’m gonna do everything I can to support Baker and get him ready to play a game. Obviously, we still got one more preseason game left, so I’m focused on that. But when the regular season comes around, I’m gonna do everything I can to support him and be ready for when my time comes.”
Darnold’s next time should come somewhere in the first half of that last preseason game. Mayfield and the bulk of the starters are expected to see about a quarter’s worth of action to kick off their matchup on Friday against the Buffalo Bills.
He was then asked, in one heck of question from Carolina Blitz’s Vashi Hurt, if he feels a sense of relief now that the battle is finally over.
“No,” he replied. “It’s tough. That’s a good question. I think for me, personally, it sucks—to be quite honest. It’s just tough whenever you go into camp battling for a starting job, putting everything out there to be the starter and it doesn’t go your way—there’s no sense of relief or anything like that for me. I’m just gonna continue to come in here every single day, get better. And like I said before, help Baker. Give him everything he needs to go out there and perform.”
As for that time, that’ll come on Sept. 11—when Baker’s ex comes to Bank of America Stadium. And, ironically enough, that’s something Darnold just might be able to help him out with.
