Sam Darnold Camp Update — August 23: Two Picks in the Nashville Test

Sam Darnold got his first work against another team this camp on Friday in Nashville, and the joint practice with the Titans gave him a genuinely mixed ledger. The bad column: two interceptions, one of them returned for a score by cornerback Alontae Taylor, per Ben Arthur at Fox Sports. The good column, from the same session: he beat that same Taylor down the sideline with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, found him again near the one-yard line, and put Elijah Arroyo in the end zone in red-zone work, per Ari Horton and John Boyle at the team's website. Darnold's own review credited the opponent — Tennessee's four- and five-man rushes were "really, really good," per Arthur — and he spent some of his post-practice time praising rookie back Jadarian Price, back in team periods, as "a really special player."

Game evidence remains at zero. Darnold sat the preseason opener, Seattle plays the Titans today in Nashville after this episode is filed, and the staff's stated posture all camp has pointed the starters at the New England opener rather than August snaps. A joint practice is the closest thing to live football he's had, and it went both ways at once.

Back in June the preview projected the steady pocket passer of the championship season rather than a repeat of the one-year spike, and a split day like Friday's — capable, connected, taxed by a good rush — is what that player looks like against a good front. What to watch: whether Darnold plays any series today or in the finale, and, failing that, the completion percentage when September starts counting. We'll check after cut day.

_Data via nflverse._