Jets can look to Eli Manning for Sam Darnold hope

ATLANTA — Yep. The dateline isn’t fake. And it isn’t from out in the suburbs, where the Mets are playing the Braves. This is preseason football, and I am here. And there is only one reason to be here.

Because Sam Darnold is also here.

And, well, we’d all better get used to the fact that you’re going to see Sam Darnold’s name in the newspaper a lot. His name has already been in the papers a lot — he did start from Game 1 last year, after all — but now he is not a curiosity. Now, the training wheels are off. Now, instead of using “Darnold” and “franchise quarterback” in the same paragraph, they are in the same sentence.

And when that happens …

Well, put it this way: In Eli Manning’s second year…