Sam Darnold has been cleared for non-contact work, but it's unclear when and if he would be given the green light to play Sunday when the Jets return from their bye week to face the Eagles.
Darnold is recovering from a bout of mononucleosis. He believes he can play right now. But there are obvious risks, particularly his enlarged spleen. Adam Gase said everything would be considered, but ultimately the Jets' organization and the doctors would make the final decision about Darnold's status this week.
"He's pressing to play," Gase said during a Monday afternoon conference call. "He wants to be out there. Him sitting out the last few weeks is something that's not ideal for him. It's about making the right decision for us as an organization. It's going to be (GM) Joe (Douglas), myself, the trainers, the doctors getting together and saying here's what we're going to do and here's the right decision we're going to make not only for him but for our team."
Darnold has missed the past two games and had been circling Week 5 as his return date. After meeting with the doctors Monday, he was cleared to throw a football for the first time. But he still can't lift weights and didn't get full clearance to return to practice Wednesday, which it sounds like he and the 0-3 Jets were expecting.
To this point, Darnold said he's been riding the bike, which is much different than being hit by 300-plus pound lineman. Still, Darnold said he feels 100-percent healthy and that he can resume playing.
"I feel like I can play right now," Darnold said.
It would seem the spleen is still an issue, but for the first time during this process, Darnold would not talk about it.
"My spleen at this point is going to do what it's going to do," Darnold said. "I'm going to let the specifics come out when they do. Until then I'm going to do what the doctors say."
Gase said he hasn't spoken to the doctors yet so he's not sure if there could be a point later this week that Darnold could be cleared. Gase said this is "not ideal" from a preparation standpoint.
He said everyone "felt good" when they left for the bye about Luke Falk being the backup. But now Falk would start for the second consecutive week if Darnold can't play, and the Jets would have to sign a backup.
They could bring back David Fales, who served in that role during the Jets' Week 3 loss at New England. The fact that they cut Fales was an indication they thought Darnold would play this week.
"It's not an ideal situation," Gase said. "It would be one thing if you're looking at a (backup) that's played in the league 12 years or something that could go a whole week and all of a sudden we get the rug pulled out from under us. But this is more of a situation when you have a younger backup and if he was going to play he would need the reps.
"It's one of those things where the sooner the better to have an answer. Right now it is what it is. I have to keep preparing with the possibility of Sam going and then the possibility that Luke might have to go."
Darnold said his goal is to be able to practice Wednesday and get a full week of work in before the Jets make the trip to Philadelphia on Saturday. It doesn't sound as if that will be the case. But he said as long as gets cleared he wants to play no matter how much he practices this week.
"I feel 100 percent," Darnold said. "I've been feeling 100% for a week now. That's the most frustrating part about this. It's what makes me the most anxious is feeling 100% but not necessarily being able to go out there and do what I love to do. I got to do what I can to get back out there and get healthy and do what the docs say.
"I'm going to do what I can to get out there with my guys because I miss the game too much. That's how I am. If I can go out there and play I'm going to play."
