Both the New York Jets and the New England Patriots return from their bye week Sunday to face each other at MetLife Stadium, the first of their two AFC East divisional games. The Jets will face the Patriots on their field in New England Dec. 30.
The 3-7 Jets, currently last in their division, will face a 7-3 first-place Patriots team with quarterback Tom Brady that went into a bye after losing to the Tennessee Titans, a .500 team, 34-10.
The Jets’ bye quieted down angry fans after a loss to the poorly performing Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium, the Jets home field. They’ll either have their rookie, Sam Darnold, coming off of an injury, or 16-year journeyman veteran, Josh McCown, at quarterback Sunday.
“We’ll see how he goes through the bye week, and how it looks next week,” said Jets head coach Todd Bowles. “If not, Josh will line up and we’ll go.”
In their first practice after the bye, Darnold, nursing a strained right foot suffered while playing the Miami Dolphins in Week 9 and sitting out Week 10 against the Buffalo Bills, wore street clothes on the sidelines earlier this week. He’s out of his walking boot.
While healthy and playing, Darnold threw for 1,934 yards, 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, completing 55 percent of his passes.
Against Buffalo, McCown completed 17 of his 34 passes for 135 yards. He had zero touchdowns and two interceptions.
