#Pete Carroll gushes over Jets’ Sam Darnold: ‘Matter of time’

There is a link between Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and Jets quarterback Sam Darnold even though they have never met.

They have shared history at USC. Carroll coached the Trojans from 2001-09, winning two national championships. Darnold played for the Trojans from 2015-17.

Carroll gushed about Darnold this week.

“I think he’s really talented, without question,” said Carroll, who also coached the Jets in 1994. “He’s got great throws in him. He’s a real quarterback. He sees things. He makes big plays and big throws in difficult situations because of his talent. It’s just a matter of time. Sam’s going to be a really big-time QB. He’s thrown a lot of balls in three years. He’s had a lot of experience. It will pay off in the long run.”

Darnold grew up watching Carroll’s USC teams as a kid in San Clemente, Calif. But he said the two have never crossed paths.

“Yeah, I was a big fan of those SC teams growing up, it’s been well documented,” Darnold said. “And I don’t know him personally, even going to SC and being there, you know he was pretty busy when I was there, so I haven’t met him.”

Darnold has played two games since returning from his shoulder injury without incident. Darnold was asked this week if his shoulder is 100 percent.

“It’s close enough so, but yeah, it feels good,” Darnold said. “You know, I’ve taken a couple shots since coming back and it hasn’t really bothered me, so yeah, it’s feeling good.”

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The Jets face a huge challenge, literally, this week in Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf. The 6-foot-4, 229-pound Metcalf has 63 catches for 1,119 yards and nine touchdowns in his second season.

“It’s tough,” Jets coach Adam Gase said. “You’ve got do a good job of playing physical. You’ve got to find different ways to disrupt his routes. You want to try to keep him in front of basically your defense as much as possible, and then you have to do a good job of tackling. You’ve got to gang tackle and sometimes it’s hard when it’s an outside guy that’s that big, because you need a lot of guys to come to the party. When it’s one on one, that’s where it can get a little dicey.”

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Jamal Adams facing the Jets has gotten all the attention this week, but there are a few other former Jets on Seattle. Carroll spent five seasons with the Jets, one as head coach in 1994. Backup quarterback Geno Smith was a second-round pick of the Jets in 2013, right tackle Brandon Shell was a fifth-round pick by the Jets in 2016. Shell started 40 games for the Jets before leaving as a free agent in the offseason. and Seattle offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer served in the same role for the Jets from 2006-11.

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CB Bless Austin and TE Trevon Wesco were activated off the IR. Austin will start. The also placed S Ashytyn Davis, S Bennett Jackson and RG Greg Van Roten on IR. WR Lawrence Cager and S Saquan Hampton were signed and LB Noah Dawkins and WR Jaleel Scott elevated from the practice squad.