Josh McCown was a mentor to Sam Darnold in the Jets quarterback's rookie year.

And even though he won't be around Darnold in his second year with New York after announcing his retirement and transition to ESPN NFL analyst, he is confident Darnold will show vast improvement in 2019.

"I tried to empty the clip with him and give him everything I could," McCown told ESPN's Rich Cimini. "He'll be just fine."

McCown spent the last two of his 16 professional seasons with the Jets, appearing in four games last season when Darnold, New York's No. 3 pick in 2018, suffered a foot injury.

Though he helped groom Darnold to be the Jets' Week 1 starter and helped him transition into the league, he believes the new Jets' coaching staff of head coach Adam Gase and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains can further help him develop.

"Adam and Dowell will do a great job with him, and [backup quarterback] Trevor [Siemian] has played a lot of football," McCown said. "It's a good room. Those guys will support him. I root for those guys, and I want to see Sam have a lot of success. Now he has to make it happen. If he needs me, I'm only a phone call away."

Darnold showed flashes of his potential as a rookie, throwing for 341 yards and three touchdowns in a 44-38 overtime loss to the Packers in Week 16. And McCown knows what will be key for Darnold heading into Year 2.

"He needs to know when to cut bait on a play and when to rip it," said McCown, who threw for 17,707 yards, 98 touchdowns and 82 interceptions in 99 career games since debuting in 2002. "That will be more fine-tuned this year because I know Adam will help with that. That will be the biggest jump for him. If he can eliminate five or six incompletions per game, it'll be a major improvement."

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