Darnold made his professional debut in Friday's 17-0 preseason win over the Falcons, completing 13 of 18 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown while adding eight yards on two scrambles.
As expected, Darnold was the third quarterback to enter the game for New York after Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater. He appeared to have thrown a touchdown pass to Charles Johnson in the two-minute drill late in the first half, but it was called back on offensive pass interference. Instead of pouting about it, the rookie quarterback showed poise by connecting with Johnson for a 14-yard score on the very next play. Most of his other throws besides the touchdown were of the safe variety, though Darnold was often flushed out of the pocket playing behind backup linemen. The third overall pick in April's draft gave Jets fans a lot to get excited about, but he's still running third in New York's quarterback competition at this point.