Quarterback Sam Darnold is working with a new team after being traded to the Panthers this offseason and the NFL schedule makers assured he would get a lot of questions about his old one once the regular season gets underway.
The Panthers will host the Jets in Week 1 of the regular season, which means that Darnold will have a few opportunities to discuss his feelings about facing the team that traded him before kickoff. One of them came in a media session last week and it saw Darnold separate his personal history from what’s in front of the team.
“I think it’s a really good opportunity -- a good opportunity for this team to go out and prove ourselves against a good opponent,” Darnold said, via SI.com. “For me as a competitor, I’m going to go out there and compete no matter who the opponent is, so that’s kind of my mindset on it.”
Whatever Darnold says publicly, one imagines the prospect of getting his Panthers tenure off on the right foot while also dealing the Jets a blow is one that means a little bit more than some other games.