New York Jets head coach Adam Gase announced on Thursday that quarterback Sam Darnold will miss Monday night’s game against the Cleveland Browns and potentially more time after being diagnosed with mononucleosis.

So, a quick word on mono….

Known as the kissing disease, mono causes numerous health issues potentially including fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, rash, and weight loss – the latter, which according to reports was a tipoff that something was amiss with Darnold.

How does one contract mono? Let’s have WebMd explain:

Mononucleosis is an infectious illness that’s sometimes called mono or “the kissing disease.” While you can get the virus that causes it through kissing, you can also get it in other ways like sharing drinks or utensils.

The problem for Darnold and why he could be out for quite some time deals with the recovery process and what that could look like for him.

For example, here is a snippet from a 2014 article by Lecia Bushak on her bout with mono as a 23-year old (Darnold is 22):

Once I was already back at work, a month after mono’s initial onset, I was advised to refrain from going to the gym or resuming my ordinary physical activity. For three months, I was banned from alcohol (to allow my liver to recover), exercise, and pushing myself too hard at anything. Every day during those months, my heavy fatigue would roll around at 3PM and sometimes earlier, so I would go home straight to bed to relax and sleep.

Now, I’m no doctor but if Darnold suffers anything remotely close to this, we will not see him…for several weeks.

Here’s another testimonial:

In short, the Jets season is in big trouble….after just one game.