The Seahawks lost 21-19 to the Rams last Sunday and quarterback Sam Darnold’s four interceptions had a lot to do with the result, but linebacker Ernest Jones wasn’t in the mood to hear any criticism of his teammate after the road loss.
Jones offered up a strong defense of Darnold by saying the quarterback’s been “[balling](https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/seahawks-lb-ernest-jones-iv-defends-qb-sam-darnold-after-four-pick-game)” all season and that one bad game doesn’t define him more than his entire body of work. Jones closed his thoughts by adding that “we’ve got his back, and if you’ve got anything to say, quite frankly, f—k you.”
On Thursday, Darnold expressed his gratitude to receive that kind of support in the wake of a poor performance because “not every locker room that’s like that.”
“All those guys in the locker room, we’ve all put a lot of work in, and when things don’t necessarily go the way that I want them to, especially on game day, the reason that it sucks for me is because I feel like I’m letting those guys down and I feel like a lot of the guys in the locker room feel the same way,” Darnold said, via the team’s website. “So that energy and the things that he said [meant a lot to me](https://www.seahawks.com/news/sam-darnold-turnovers-were-unacceptable-but-teammates-support-meant-a-lot-to-me) for a guy to have my back like that. But again, I know that the guys are going to go fight no matter what, no matter what the case is, and so I’m going to do everything that I can to put my best foot forward and go execute at a high level.”
While Jones wasn’t in a mood to castigate Darnold, the quarterback was more willing to go there. He called his play against the Rams “unacceptable” and he’ll get a chance to turn things around against the Titans this Sunday.