On Monday, Carolina Panthers interim head coach Steve Wilks was asked about the current state of his team’s quarterback position. And considering all the injuries, as well as the ghastly play under center, you have to feel for the man at the moment.
With Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold both nursing high-ankle sprains, PJ Walker picked up the starting nod in Week 6—an underwhelming outing that resulted in a 24-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Heck, even Walker got bit by the injury bug in the fourth quarter and then proceeded to give way to Jacob Eason—who was a practice squad member for the first five weeks of the season.
So, when breaching the topic of Darnold’s status, Wilks said he’s readying for the return of the former third overall pick.
“Sam should be coming up, and looking forward to him to get back on the field and see exactly where he is in his progression,” he said. “And we’ll go from there.”
Darnold has been stashed away on injured reserve for the past six weeks due to that aforementioned sprain. Once he returns to practice, he’ll have a 21-day window to be shifted to the active roster—a move that seems near at this point.
And when he is back, where does he stand on said roster?
Well, Darin Gantt of Panthers.com asked Wilks if Darnold could be the starter when he’s healthy. Here was his response:
“Darin, I can’t give you that answer. But I can tell you right now—those guys are gonna compete at that position, just as well as other positions, to see exactly who goes out there on Sunday.”
Mayfield’s dreadful 2022 has left another window open for Darnold. The fellow 2018 draftee has completed just 54.9 percent of his passes for 962 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions through five games.
Here we go again, folks. It’s the quarterback competition so nice that we may have to see it twice!
