Mono to mensa: Sam Darnold ready for next challenge -- Bill Belichick

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- When the New York Jets last played on Monday Night Football, only five weeks ago, Sam Darnold was at his New Jersey apartment, hanging out with his parents in the family room and eating take-out Italian. No offense to dad and mom, who were visiting and spent part of the day stocking his refrigerator with microwavable bowls of mom's homemade chicken-noodle soup, but this wasn't his idea of cool.

He belonged at MetLife Stadium, 30 miles away, but the 22-year-old quarterback was fighting mononucleosis, not the Cleveland Browns. The frustration and helplessness formed a volatile mix, and it exploded when his replacement, Trevor Siemian, suffered a grotesque ankle injury.…