And yet, at the halfway point of the season, none of the moves seem to have helped much. The Jets have now lost 16 of their last 18 games dating to last season. Since shocking the Dallas Cowboys in October for their only win of the season, the Jets have been outscored, 88-33. They join the Dolphins, the Redskins, the Falcons and the Bengals in the race to pick first in next year’s draft.

The past few weeks alone have provided more than their share of embarrassments, starting with a dreadful 33-0 loss at home to the New England Patriots. During that game, Darnold was heard on the ESPN broadcast talking about seeing ghosts.

Since then, the Jets released the Pro Bowl offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele, who had surgery on his injured shoulder after a heated dispute with the team and its doctors, who had deemed him healthy enough to play.

In a possible waving of the white flag, the Jets then traded defensive lineman Leonard Williams, a first-round draft pick, to the Giants, and followed the move by shopping other key members of the team at the trade deadline last week.

That appeared to anger their safety, Jamal Adams, a third-year starter, who took umbrage at being shopped after having reportedly told team executives that he wanted to remain in New York.

“The Rams don’t take calls on Aaron Donald,” Adams said. “The Patriots don’t take calls on Tom Brady. That’s where I hold myself in that regard.”

On Sunday, Adams was evaluated for a concussion.

In the postgame news conference, Darnold was asked whether losing to the Dolphins was the most embarrassing loss he had suffered in his young career. “I feel like every loss is embarrassing,” he said.