During the Green & White's 1-2 start, Darnold has been intercepted five times. With the Jets down four points and 1:28 remaining in regulation Thursday, he had wideout Jermaine Kearse open in the middle of the field but hesitated while pass rushers closed. He then forced it back to Kearse and linebacker Joe Schobert essentially ended the ball game with the takeaway.

"The first interception was another instance of a young quarterback understanding, 'I had the receiver open and my vision got messed up because of the pass rush. I had to move around and the timing of the route wasn't like I had planned. I have to move on instead of staying with that.'

"You can't hope that is still going to be open because it won't be and it definitely wasn't," added Pennington. "He saw it initially and Kearse was open over the middle, but once he had to make an adjustment and the pass rush blocked his vision and he had to move, he can't go there again. He has to find a way to escape, throw it away or find his check down."

The Jets didn't have much of a vertical passing attack against Cleveland as Darnold was held to just 5.5 yards an attempt and some of their most explosive plays came on a trio of wide receiver screens to Quincy Enunwa. Pennington believes there will be success down the field eventually, but there were a number of reasons for what transpired in Week 3.