Football

Josh McCown trying to 'help as many people' as he can in midst of Jets QB battle

By Jon Ackerman Aug 23, 2018
Josh McCown, left, and Sam Darnold (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Josh McCown made a case on the field last season to be the starting quarterback of the New York Jets. In 13 starts, he threw for a career-high 18 touchdowns, just nine interceptions, a career-high 2,926 yards, and a career-high 67.3 completion percentage. He then signed a $10 million deal to return this year.

But he’s now 39 years old and entering his 16th season in the NFL. The Jets used their No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft to select Sam Darnold. And in March, the team brought in 25-year-old free agent Teddy Bridgewater.

With his solid play in the preseason, Darnold might become QB1 sooner than later. And with his solid play in the preseason, Bridgewater is likely to be traded. That puts McCown back as a backup. If that comes to be, McCown will do whatever he can to help whoever is the starter.

“My goal for this is for the quarterback room to play well,” McCown told reporters this week. “And if that’s me playing out there, I want to play the best football that I can play. If that’s Sam or that’s Teddy, whoever that is, that’s the ultimate goal.”

“It’s fun to be out there playing and there’s no substitute for that,” McCown added. “That’s why we do it. At the same time, when you look at things from that perspective, if you can help be a part of finding that guy that can be that guy for this franchise for a long time, that means something to me, that’s competitive to me. That’s what we get up for work to do, that’s what makes it fun.”

Over 15 years of primarily being a backup, McCown has learned the benefits of helping others succeed. That’s also something he’s learned in his walk with Christ.

“Everyone’s default is to go back to some form of selfishness,” he told The Increase, a partner of Sports Spectrum. “We all want to be pleased with the outcome. I’ve always wanted to know that I’m going to be on this team for this amount of time so I can have my future set. Selfishly, I wanted to know everything was going to be OK. Looking over the course of my career and the way it has been so uncertain, I see how my circumstances have continued to put me in a space of faith all the time. I’m thankful for that.”

McCown’s career has been full of ups and downs. So he’s not taken off guard by his current situation. He aims to simply be at peace.

“I think for me, it’s just a personal thing,” McCown told reporters. “At the end of the day, you go to work and you work as hard as you can and you help as many people as you can. And when you lay down and you can have peace in your heart at night, and you know that I did all I could that day, and then you sleep good. That’s what I learned growing up and that’s all I know.”

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