Sam Darnold will be the Carolina Panthers‘ starting quarterback for at least another game this season after Sunday’s win over the Denver Broncos, interim head coach Steve Wilks said.
Darnold, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, completed 11 passes for 164 yards and one touchdown, recovering his own fumble and rolling in the end zone for another, to defeat the Broncos, 23-10.
“I thought he did a good job today,” Wilks told reporters after the game. “I still have to evaluate the tape but again, [he] managed the game, ran the offense efficiently, connected down the field at times. We moved the pocket. Did a great job getting outside. We tried to establish that early on so, on the surface, pretty good.”
Wilks also applauded Darnold’s smart play during the game before confirming that he will start against the Seattle Seahawks following Carolina’s bye week.
“I think I can’t just really pinpoint one. I love the mere fact how he was able to get outside the pocket and try to win with his feet and still have his eyes down the field to try to execute. Then, when you talk about trying to push the ball down the field, that throw to DJ [Moore] was phenomenal. Just pinpoint accuracy.”
“Sam is extremely athletic,” he later added. “People probably don’t really see or think that, but he is fast. He has shown a lot in practice, and you saw a lot of that today.”
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Darnold could provide the consistency the Panthers have been longing for at the quarterback position – Carolina is 1-5 with Baker Mayfield and 2-3 with PJ Walker.
The former New York Jets quarterback was asked if he felt validated by Sunday’s win but Darnold maintained he was just “happy” to play football.
“Yeah, I mean listen, you know it truly isn’t about me. There are so many guys that had a hand in this, for me to just go out there, do my job and find some completions, move the chains a couple of times. Like I said our run game was stout today. Whenever our running backs, our offensive line, our receivers, tight ends can block like that, you know we can just stay ahead of the chains and keep it rolling, have a couple good drives, and our defense can play the way that they played, I would be silly to sit up here and take all the credit.”
He continued, “It was truly a team effort. I made my plays when I could. Just super proud of the guys in the locker room.”
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