Darnold's home debut with Vikings comes vs. 49ers team he was enlightened with last year as a backup

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Sam Darnold enjoyed a valuable reset last season of a sputtering NFL career painted by the unfulfilled expectations of a quarterback from a prestigious college program drafted third overall.

It was a burden-free year with the San Francisco 49ers to be the backup while continuing to learn the league, his position and himself. The Minnesota Vikings enjoyed an immediate benefit from this new version of Darnold in a dominant season-opening performance.

He's aiming to use those off-the-field gains against the 49ers this week. Darnold's home debut for the Vikings will come on Sunday afternoon, with his former team paying a visit.

“I learned so much last year,” Darnold said. “Just being able to learn every single game plan and study throughout the week, I think that was the biggest takeaway that I had, with all the different things that we had to know as quarterbacks going into a game."

After going 13-25 as the starter for the New York Jets over his first three NFL seasons, Darnold was traded to the Carolina Panthers in 2021. He only found further instability around him, leading to more injuries and more interceptions.

Last year, he put his starting aspiration on hold to join the well-oiled operation under 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan — and supported Brock Purdy all the way to the Super Bowl.

“He helped me tremendously with my prep and we all bounced ideas off each other and what we could get and what we need to be aware of,” Purdy said. “Sam contributed so much to our success as a team, man.”

Darnold had his own enlightenment about the pressure — both real and imagined — he experienced in New York when he entered the league in 2018 from USC.

“When you’re at quarterback, I feel like a lot of times you can feel everything kind of collapsing on you, not just in the game, but theoretically, like, as a whole,” Darnold said. “If things aren’t going your way, you can feel the weight of the world a little bit. At the end of the day, it’s your job to just put the ball in your playmakers' hands and let them go run and make a play.

"I think it’s as simple as that sometimes.”

With the Vikings, Darnold's bridge assignment was cemented as a full-season gig when J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury last month.

“I was hoping he’d find no good spots and come back here,” Shanahan said. "But I was happy for him he got this opportunity because Sam more than deserves it. Sam is a starting quarterback in this league and he should run with it.”

The arm strength and processing speed were never in question, but coach Kevin O'Connell and the rest of the coaches and players have been impressed by how naturally Darnold has taken to the complex scheme, improved his footwork and fit in with a new team.

“If you give Sam some time in the drop-back game, just throwing the ball, he’s going to make the right read and throw a nice ball,” Vikings running back Aaron Jones said. “He’s really slept on, so we’re glad to have him. At the end of the season, we’ll look up and there’ll be a lot people talking about him.”

Darnold was 19 of 24 for 208 yards, two touchdowns, one sack and one interception against the New York Giants. The 44-yard pass to Justin Jefferson he threaded along the sideline during a 99-yard drive was a prime example of the confidence he has in his new surroundings.

“I was double-covered on that play,” Jefferson said. “Him throwing it to that spot and me going to get it, that is going to happen a majority of the time during the season. He has to understand that even when I am double-teamed, I’m still open and that I am going to make a play.”

The 49ers didn’t miss a beat with All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey sidelined for the opener because of a sore calf muscle and Achilles tendon, with backup Jordan Mason rushing for 147 yards and a touchdown against the Jets.

His 28 carries were the most by a 49ers player since Frank Gore had 31 on Oct. 30, 2011, and he also broke a league-best 13 tackles, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

McCaffrey is out again this week but the Niners are plenty confident that Mason can handle the load.

“He’s a dense, sturdy guy and he just runs downhill very physically,” All-Pro tight end George Kittle said. “Hopefully he can just keep doing that and there’ll be a very good substitute for Christian so we don’t have to play Christian for 100 snaps a game.”

Jones will also make his home debut for the Vikings after seven seasons with their fiercest rival the Green Bay Packers. He’s eager to join the U.S. Bank Stadium crowd in the ritual “Skol!” chant that’s accompanied by a rhythmic over-the-head clap that builds to a frenzy.

“When you’re on the other sideline, you’re trying not to clap, you’re trying not to get into it, because you see the whole stadium doing it and it’s contagious,” said Jones, who rushed 14 times for 94 yards last week. “I’m really amped to just come out there and play in front of the fans.”

San Francisco kicker Jake Moody enjoyed a superb start to his second season by tying a franchise record with six field goals made last week, including two from at least 50 yards.

The 2023 third-round draft pick had a spotty rookie year, including a potential winning field goal he missed against Cleveland and an extra point he had blocked in the Super Bowl against Kansas City.

“Every time that he got more eyes on him and people were waiting for him to fail, he always rebounded and got through that,” Shanahan said. “When you do that, you build true confidence and you get stronger through adversity.”

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San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan speaks at a news conference after an NFL football game against the New York Jets in Santa Clara, Calif., Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy looks to pass the ball against the New York Jets during the first half of an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, center, gestures toward fans after an NFL football game against the New York Jets in Santa Clara, Calif., Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) celebrates after a 21-yard touchdown catch by teammate wide receiver Jalen Nailor (83) during the second half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold answers questions during a press conference after an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Officials in Puerto Rico have rejected a petition to extend a voter registration deadline following an outcry over long lines formed by those seeking to participate in this year’s general election.

The island’s two main parties, the Popular Democratic Party and the New Progressive Party, voted against the request late Monday, as did the alternate president of the elections commission.

Those living in Puerto Rico have until Sept. 21 to register. Members of two other parties, the Puerto Rican Independence Party and Citizen Victory Movement, which was created in recent years, had requested that the deadline be pushed to a month before the Nov. 5 election amid concerns that people will be locked out of voting.

“Not everyone can come and stand in a kilometers-long line,” said John F. Rullán Schmidt, executive director of a volunteer group called Somos Más, which seeks to promote citizen participation in politics.

He noted how earlier this week, some Puerto Ricans stayed in line until 3 a.m. to ensure they could vote. He warned the group would sue to extend the voter registration deadline if no one else does.

Hundreds of people have stood in daylong lines to register for the election in recent weeks as the U.S. Caribbean territory’s two main parties, which have long dominated the political scene, face stiff challenges from other parties.

“It’s very important to vote,” said Vanessa Casillas, a 56-year-old speech therapist. “Those in the government are not working for the people.”

On Tuesday, she came prepared with a chair and a cap for the sun. The estimated wait at the State Elections Commission was more than two hours when she arrived, but there was still enough seating indoors. Like many Puerto Ricans, she called for the ouster of Luma, a private company that has come under fire for chronic power outages across the U.S. territory, some of which are blamed on another company that oversees electric generation.

Casillas planned to vote for Juan Dalmau, who is running for governor for the Puerto Rican Independence Party.

He faces Jesús Manuel Ortiz of the Popular Democratic Party, Javier Jiménez of the conservative Dignity Project party and Jenniffer Colón of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, who beat current Gov. Pedro Pierluisi in their party’s primary in June. Meanwhile, the Citizen Victory Movement has said it supports Dalmau as gubernatorial candidate.

Dalmau and Ortiz have said they support ousting Luma, while González said she would instead appoint an energy ‘czar’ to oversee the company.

For Felicia Álvarez Capellán, 73, resolving the outages are a priority because she cannot afford a generator or solar panels.

Álvarez, who supports González, said she was surprised at the line Tuesday at the elections commission: “There are too many people. There are no resources.”

As people waited, volunteers outside distributed snack boxes containing a ham-and-cheese burrito and chips.

Rullán said one reason for the long lines is the elimination of 76 of 88 permanent registration boards across the island, as well as fewer employees at the elections commission. In addition, the commission faces a backlog of tens of thousands of electronically registered voters that have not been recorded yet as they await approval.

On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union noted that chronic power outages also have forced the temporary closure of registration centers as it accused the elections commission of not providing enough resources to handle the surge of people seeking to vote. The ACLU also had called for the registration deadline to be extended.

The electoral commissioner for the Popular Democratic Party, Karla Angleró, said that she voted against extending the deadline, because it would delay other processes, including the printing of ballots, the configuration of voting lists and the recording of more than 90,000 early voting requests.

Despite the ongoing long lines, there were only 62,400 new registered voters by last week, less than half that of 2020. Among those hoping to appear on the list was Dylan Alvira, an 18-year-old university student.

He arrived at the elections commission around noon on Tuesday with two friends, surprised at the line because he figured most people would be at work. He left because he had to get to a quantitative methods class and could not wait the more than estimated two hours to register but promised he would return.

“I will be breathing down their neck,” said Alvira’s friend, Rafael Meléndez, 22, who voted four years ago and urged his two younger friends to do the same this year. “They have to come back.”

People wait at the Puerto Rico State Elections Commission in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. The voter registration deadline ends Sept. 21. (AP Photo/Danica Coto)