Sam Darnold on Performance vs. Dolphins: 'Just Playing Stupid'

After throwing four interceptions in a 13-6 loss to the Miami Dolphins Sunday, New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold offered a brutal self-assessment of his play.

"For me, I'm just not playing to the best of my ability and, quite frankly, just playing stupid," Darnold said Monday, per Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. "I thought I played stupid football [Sunday]. I just have to be better. I know that, the coaches know that, everybody knows that.

The rookie currently leads the NFL with 14 interceptions on the season.

While he has had poor games, his Week 9 effort was arguably his worst of the year with just a 31.8 quarterback rating.

Darnold ranks 33rd out of 34 qualified players with a 68.3 quarterback rating, and his inconsistency has been maddening in his first season. The quarterback has seven touchdowns and three interceptions in the Jets' three wins, but only four touchdowns and 11 interceptions in the six losses.

This type of up-and-down play is often to be expected from rookies, but the 2018 No. 3 overall pick still has been disappointing overall.

Still, the talent is there for him to succeed if he can simply avoid mistakes. Head coach Todd Bowles just wants to see him not try to do too much on the field.

"He knows he has to play within the system," Bowles said. "He understand when he can and can't make throws. You want him to make throws and make big throws, but you don't want him to force them."

Darnold will hope for more success next week at home against the 2-7 Buffalo Bills.