Sam Darnold on Keys to Finding Success Against New York Giants Defense & Being Named a Team Captain

what's up guys um obviously really excited about this opportunity this week um really good football team over there in New York um with the Giants and um obviously you know really good defense very talented defense uh you know coach Bowen over there has a you know um a really good scheme um from what we've been seeing and uh you know just really excited for this opportunity Sam what does it mean to you to be a starter again and get this opportunity this Sunday yeah again like I said I think it's a a really good opportunity not just for me but for our entire team to go out there and um you know do what we've been doing all Camp just execute at a high level and um you know take it one one snap at a time and I think if we do that um you know we can uh we can have success you think you I mean you be guys be described as a passing team a balanced team what do you think uh coming in and and you know do you think you'll throw the ball 40 times or 20 times do you have any idea yeah um I mean it's it's always a you know tough to say um you know going into a game um obviously you you'd like to be balanced um I think that's um the number one goal as an offense is to always be balanced but you know if if the game takes us another Direction um that's what it that's what happens sometimes and uh you know we'll be ready for whatever whatever happens out there what do you have to be in the Huddle when you think about presence and all that and it's a game situation now what do you have to be to them yeah um you know I think for me it's just keeping the same demeanor uh you know throughout the game I think that's it's what I've done my entire career um I don't really know anything different just continuing to be myself um throughout the entire game and uh you know that's pretty much it had a few months with Kevin like what stands out about the way he coaches quarterbacks yeah obviously you know being a quarterback himself um you know it definitely helps you know with kind of what we're seeing and and I can come to him after a play and be like hey this is what I saw on this play and um you know he's very um understanding of of that in certain situations that we get thrown into um just you know in terms of oh you know I you know I dropped back and I just felt like they were all soft so I checked it down like those kind of situations um he understands a lot um and uh yeah obviously you know just the system in general uh is a great system that you know I've been able to you know run now for a few months and and feel really comfortable with so really excited about where we our team's at right now Sam what have you seen from JJ McCarthy just in the time since from the injury to now and just his attitude his tion yeah his attitude's great I mean um you know he's he's always trying to learn I think that's the biggest thing you know he's in he's in the training room uh reading books all the time just uh doing whatever he can to to keep his mind sharp right now um and uh he's just always in really good spirits and I think everyone on this team appreciates that about him what did you think about being named captain or any Captain yeah it's a it's an honor you know anytime you you can be named a captain by you know a group of guys like the like the group that we have in our locker room um you know it means a ton for me when you say books playbooks yeah playbooks yeah no and uh all types of books um I haven't I haven't necessarily asked him uh what kind of books he's reading in there but um I'm sure they're very interesting how much you study at home I mean do quarterbacks go home and then they you know have dinner and then they crank the laptop up again what what happen yeah um you know I think for me it's yeah it's studying it's a lot of studying um you know it's kind of going over what we're going to do um you know understanding our scheme um as best that I can and uh obviously watching um some of the film obviously you know it's it's tough right now you know having a first firsttime defensive coordinator with with the guys that they have over in New York so um yeah you you just um you know we're just going to go out there and and uh you know we're going to be ready for anything and by half you usually kind of know what A team's trying to do to you or not necessarily yeah absolutely yeah usually by the first you know drive or two you you have a good feel of of what they're trying to do and um but for me yeah when I go home I'm I'm studying and um doing all the things that I need to do to prepare myself is there more uncertainty in week one just not have like not having the team just St yeah like I said I mean it's you know first time a defensive coordinator for you know the for the Giants um you know they got different Personnel than than he had in Tennessee last year so um you know um we're just we'll be ready for anything yeah yeah when you mention being named a captain is it difficult when you're a player in your first year with a team to kind of find a leadership voice just saying how do I fit in this locker room I don't know people yet I mean what's that like as a as a guy that's F your team yeah I think it's it's it's easy when you can just be yourself and this group in in the locker room makes it really easy for me to just continue to be myself every single day um you know and you know that no one's going to ask me or anyone else in there to to be anything other than that and I think that's the special part about this group and um again like I said very honored to to be named a captain here do it mean anything to you to go back to metti Stadium um yeah it's going to be it's going to be good to go back to Jersey um but uh other than that no I'm just excited about this opportunity Sam how have you grown as a quarterback from the last time you were a fulltime starter that gives you a lot of confidence headed into Sunday's matchup say that one more time sorry how have you grown as a quarterback from the last time you were starter fulltime to give you confidence going into Sunday yeah I think uh you know for me just having really last year to to you know kind of sit back watch um you know a lot of you know obviously what brought Ed but um just to prepare myself every single day to to be able to get in there and then obviously got a couple um opportunities last year um to go in there and play some football but um yeah I'm just excited excited to get back out there and um you know just lead this offense I think that's what I'm excited to do is just um continue to do my part um every single play and and do what I need to do to to help uh lead this team awesome good appreciate it guys