Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden has faith in Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold. In the past, he criticized the Minnesota Vikings for the way they handled Darnold. On a recent episode of the Gruden Family Football Show, the former coach once again stood up to defend the QB when a fan called in and mocked Jon Gruden.

“Oh, Gruden,” the fans said in a sing-song voice. “You cut me off last time when I was talking about benching Sam Darnold. Well, look at him now. He’s got the best wide receiver in football, and he’s throwing 50% completion percentage in less than 200 yards. How does that even make sense? This guy’s playing like Brad Johnson, your quarterback in 2003.”

“Hey, cut that guy off,” Gruden fired back. “You know, the world champion, by the way, both of these guys don’t need a fan like you calling in.”

Brad Johnson is a legend for the Bucs. He came to Tampa Bay after stints with the Minnesota Vikings and the Washington Redskins. With the Bucs, he had a great few seasons with Jon Gruden as head coach, helping the team win the Super Bowl in the 2002 season. However, in the next year, he threw a whopping 21 interceptions after recording only six in 2002. Johnson was eventually benched midway through the 2004 season.

Sam Darnold has been quiet this season, his second with the Seattle Seahawks. He seemed to revive his otherwise okay career last year with a Super Bowl victory, finishing the year with 4,048 regular-season yards and 25 touchdowns. He also had an accuracy of 67.7%, thanks to an offense that had playmakers like Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

But this year, Darnold is throwing at an average of 211.1 yards per game, down from the 238.1 average he showed last year. The QB’s accuracy has also dipped to 60.2%. Something seems to be amiss in Darnold’s form this season.

Against the Chicago Bears last week, Sam Darnold was pressured on 14 of 39 dropbacks and completed just one of 11 passes for 13 yards under pressure, per ESPN research. He has also become turnover-prone, having recorded nine interceptions so far. He has thrown one in every game he has played after the opener against the New England Patriots, which he left early because of an injury.

“I just think it’s BS for me to keep turning the ball over,” Darnold said after the Seahawks lost to the Denver Broncos in overtime. “It’s not fair to our defense, not fair to our special teams group, not fair to the entire team. So I got to be better that way.”

But Gruden has backed Darnold for some time now. He stood by the quarterback despite mounting calls for him to be benched. The same caller had phoned in last week, and he angrily questioned why the Seahawks were still playing him. Gruden promptly asked for him to be cut off.

“Cut this guy off. I’m so tired of these guys,” Jon Gruden said. “… You got no running backs. You got no running game, and your pass protection is getting this guy killed. You had George Holani blocking a starting defensive end last week on third and one. You got bigger problems than Sam Darnold.”

Gruden reflected on more problems when the caller phoned in the second time.

“You just traded for Quenton Nelson, who didn’t even know the snap count. You let Kenneth Walker leave for Rashid Shaheed, who doesn’t even suit up. You have no balance in your game. You got a new coordinator. I don’t know what they’re doing, but don’t just blame Sam. I blame everybody involved.”

Jon Gruden might have felt the need to stand by the troubled quarterback even more now, since he is out with a quad injury for the upcoming matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. Until Sam Darnold is able to keep the problems at bay and get Seattle the much-needed wins, this angry caller might make an appearance sometime soon on Jon Gruden’s show.

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