Sam Darnold officially ruled out for Eagles vs. Jets

The Philadelphia Eagles won’t be facing Sam Darnold this weekend, as expected. The New York Jets officially ruled out their starting quarterback — who has been dealing with mononucleosis — for Sunday’s Week 5 game.

Instead, the Jets will be starting third string passer Luke Falk. Here’s what we wrote about him earlier this week:

The Titans originally selected Falk with a sixth-round pick (No. 199 overall) in the 2018 NFL Draft. Tennessee cut him prior to the 2018 season and he was claimed on waivers by the Dolphins before ending up on injured reserve. Miami waived Falk earlier this year in May and Gase put a claim in on the quarterback he had familiarity with. Falk began the 2019 season on the Jets’ practice squad but was called up following the news of Darnold’s illness. Falk’s numbers through two games played: 32/47 (68.1% completion), 296 yards (6.3 yards per attempt), 0 TD, 1 INT, 76.2 passer rating. Seven sacks taken. No rushing stats. Even a struggling and injured Eagles secondary should be able to limit Falk’s success.

And here’s what our associates over at Jets blog Gang Green Nation had to say about what to expect from Falk:

If Luke Falk is again the starting quarterback for the Jets on Sunday, I would expect more of the same for the Jets offense; that is, complete ineptitude. If Falk starts I will be shocked if the Jets manage more than two scoring drives on offense. [...] If Luke Falk is the quarterback I would go all in at stopping Le’Veon Bell and force Falk to beat you through the air. I don’t think Falk is capable of beating anyone through the air consistently. He has a very weak arm; I would stack defenders in the box and flood the middle of the field. Take away Jamison Crowder and force Falk to try to beat you deep. He is incapable of doing so.

There’s no good reason the Eagles shouldn’t walk away with a decisive victory over the Jets at Lincoln Financial Field this weekend.