Field Gulls
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold had another nightmare performance against the Los Angeles Rams, tying his career high with four interceptions in a 21-19 loss. Given his struggles with the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs against the Rams just 10 months ago, it’s about as bad a follow-up outing as he could’ve possibly had.
Darnold has had an otherwise very impressive first season with the Seahawks, but the turnovers have piled up in recent weeks to the tune of 10 over the last four games. While many of those turnovers were with comfortable leads and not even necessarily his fault, his interceptions versus the Rams in a close defeat will once again have Darnold’s critics and skeptics wondering if he’s cut out for the biggest and most important games.
One player who’s not having any of that is Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV, who returned to the lineup two weeks after suffering a knee injury versus the Washington Commanders.
“I mean, Sam’s been balling,” Jones said. “Like, if we want to try to define Sam by this game or what, man, Sam’s been had us in every f—king game. So, for him to sit there and say, ‘Oh, that’s my fault.’ No, it’s not. There were plays that defensively we could have made. There were opportunities where we could have got better stops.
“It’s football, man. He’s our quarterback. We’ve got his back, and if you’ve got anything to say, quite frankly, f—k you.
It’s not quite “that’s my quarterback!” from Terrell Owens but it’s a strong statement from one of the leaders of the Seahawks defense, which did everything it could to keep Seattle in the game and largely slowed down the Rams’ high-powered offense.
The full post-game press conference, which is all of three minutes, can be watched below. There’s an additional uncensored clip of just the quote about Darnold in case you want to hear him curse and not just read it.
