“I talked to the tight ends about that,” he said. “Our tight end had an option route and was our checkdown option.”

Instead, the tight end ran a deeper route against a defense that was playing deeper.

“It’s just being able to get the check down and the first down there instead of forcing something,” Darnold said. “Just little things like that we can learn from.”

As for Jefferson’s giant catch radius, Darnold said he’s learning quickly.

“He makes it easier to learn because I can put it dang near anywhere and he’ll be able to come down with the football,” Darnold said. “But, yeah, it’s just about continuing to learn how he moves and how he comes out of a certain break and what to expect when he does. It’s continuing to get used to each other. It’s honestly hard to explain, but it’s just getting a feeling you have with a receiver and knowing where he’s going to be.”

A reporter told Jefferson he should help Darnold’s trust along by replaying for him the famous one-handed fourth-down catch in Buffalo in 2022.