NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Darnold was uncertain where his NFL care

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The former Southern California quarterback also was keeping tabs on what team Kirk Cousins would choose in free agency. Darnold knew Cousins’ situation would likely affect his future.“I was really just paying attention Tom Compton Color Rush Jersey , especially during that time,” Darnold said Monday during a conference call. “Definitely paying attention to Kirk, what he was doing free agent-wise and trying to understand what team I could maybe go to, who might pick me up.“Yeah, I was definitely thinking about all that stuff during the draft process.”The New York Jets went after Cousins in March and made the former Washington quarterback a big-time offer. Instead, Cousins chose to sign with Minnesota, getting a fully guaranteed three-year contract worth $84 million.The Jets then turned their attention to the draft, pulling off a trade with Indianapolis to move up to the No. 3 spot and secure one of the top quarterbacks available. After Cleveland took Baker Mayfield and the Giants went with Saquon Barkley, the Jets knew they had their guy.“Yeah,” Darnold said, “everything worked out for the best, I think.”No doubt about it, as far as New York is concerned.Darnold has shown steady progress during his first six NFL games, helping the Jets to a 3-3 start. His best game might have come Sunday, when he went 24 of 30 for 280 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in a 42-34 victory over Indianapolis .“I felt like I kind of took what the defense gave me, but at the same time took the shots when they were there,” he said. “So I thought I played really well, and my completion percentage was up, which is a good thing.”He had ranked near the bottom of the league in that category, as well as quarterback rating. Darnold is at 59.8 percent on his completions, which is still among the lowest, while his 83.7 rating is in the middle of the pack.“For me, every week it’s the poise in the pocket,” coach Todd Bowles said. “And, the breaking of the huddle Kyle Rudolph Jersey , the adjustments that he has to make, the audibles he has to make and doing the right things and it’s slowing down for him. And just doing that the right way, and he was pretty good at it (Sunday).”Darnold will get a chance to do it again next Sunday, and this time against Cousins and the Vikings at MetLife Stadium.Not that he feels any added pressure going up against the guy who was the Jets’ top target in free agency.“No, not at all,” he said. “For me, I’m just going out there every single week, treating it as a faceless opponent and knowing what they do defensively, knowing what they do well, maybe what they don’t do so well and just attacking them.“Like I’ve said before, take what they give me, but at the same time take the shots when they’re there.”Meanwhile, the Vikings are 3-2-1 with Cousins , who is fourth in the NFL with 1,921 yards passing to go along with 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions.“He’s a good player,” Bowles said. “He’s always been a good player. He was a good player in Washington, he’s a good player in Minnesota. So, he’s somebody we’ve got to deal with, he’s a tough one.”Several Jets players have said they didn’t necessarily pay attention to the team’s interest in Cousins during the offseason. And they and the coaches insist they aren’t approaching this as some sort of revenge game to show the veteran quarterback what he turned down.“It’s never disappointing in free agency,” Bowles said. “Even though you have a chance at somebody, that doesn’t guarantee you anybody. So you just move on, and always have a plan A, B, C and D. So you just move on to the next phase of the plan.”For the Jets, that was Darnold.And Nick Easton Jersey Black Friday , so far, so good.“It’s been a fun process,” Darnold said. “Now that we’ve had a few Sundays in a row where we can just kind of walk in on our routine, it’s really fun to be able to understand it and kind of just go about it throughout the week. I feel like I’ve definitely been getting a lot better as the weeks have kind of compiled.” We’ve reached the midway point of the NFL season, which means it’s the time of year where fans on social media ask themselves whether or not one of the best college football teams in the nation could beat the worst teams in the National Football League.Now, such a suggestion in any sport, whether it’s football or basketball or whatever it might be, is patently ridiculous. While there are college teams that have a lot of outstanding players and very talented rosters, every player on every NFL roster was an outstanding player in college, and therefore the college team would have little to no chance of success against NFL competition. Pretty much everything would have to go wrong for the NFL team and everything would have to go right for the college team in order for it to even be close.However, just for fun, the folks from The Action Network have put together hypothetical spreads for the University of Alabama taking on each team in the National Football League. The best chance for the Crimson Tide, according to The Action Network, would be against the Buffalo Bills, as they have the Bills being favored by a mere 28.5 points. So, even the team that’s regarded as the worst in the NFL in their estimation. . .and after what they did to the Minnesota Vikings earlier this year, I’m certainly not going to call them that. . .is a four-touchdown favorite.If you’re curious, the Vikings are listed as a 44.5-point favorite over the Crimson Tide by The Action Network. There are only six teams that would be favored by more points than the Vikings would be. (You have to download their app to get to the Vikings’ spread.) There are four teams (the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, and New Orleans Saints) that are listed as 49.5-point favorites over Nick Saban’s squad.So, if anyone would like to make the argument that the best team in college football would stand even a small chance against any NFL team. . .and we seem to get that argument every season. . .it’s safe to just laugh it off.