Daniel Jones is Easing Doubts About His Future
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The New York Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers 27-22 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, advancing to their best start to a regular season since 2009, when they went 5-0. After entering halftime down 20-10, the Giants flipped the switch and scored 17 consecutive points in the second half before committing a safety in the fourth quarter.
A big part of the Giants' success came from their offense, illustrating some of its best play this season with a balanced game plan. And at the forefront of their success was quarterback Daniel Jones, who threw for a season-high 217 yards for a 77.8 completion percentage and no turnovers.
Jones, who was playing in the game despite coming off a sprained left ankle suffered the week prior, put on a gutsy display in the Giants' victory. The team initially limited his movement in the first half, but by the second half, he was moving around as though the ankle injury had never existed.
“I'm confident in myself, said Jones about his critic-silencing performance. “I'm confident in my ability to play and help this team win games. So how people respond to that or how people see that is up to them.”
Jones looked calm and collected in the pocket throughout the game, completing 12 of the Giants' 24 first downs through the air (a season-high). He also impacted the game with his legs to keep the Giants' offense alive on several drives.
“I just felt some of those opportunities in the second half,” said Jones of his running. “I wasn't trying not to do it in the first half. I think it was just several opportunities that came up, and I tried to take advantage of them when they were there.”
This season for Jones has not been smooth sailing, enduring his share of challenges between his receivers letting him down and the offensive line's struggle in pass protection earlier in the year.
But the growth has been there and has continued to come to life. Head coach Brian Daboll has frequently lauded Jones for his decision-making, and he's dramatically cut down on his turnovers, both problems earlier in his career.
“I just say that he comes in ready to go each week,” said Daboll. “He's very humble. I think it's very, very important to him. He has very good leadership amongst the team. Players got a lot of respect for him, and I know the coaches do too. We have confidence in him. He's done a really good job for our football team, and the things that we have asked him to do, he's done them well. I'm glad he's our quarterback.”
Efficiency and execution have played influential roles in Jones’ improvement this season. Though many factors have played into that process, the execution by the offense has helped Jones the most, as evidenced in the win over the Packers.
“I think it was more just execution,” said Jones. “I thought we made a couple of adjustments here and there, but for the most part, we were just executing our game plan and what we were planning to do going into the game. We had our opportunities to do that, and we did it. I think it was just guys executing and being on the same page down the stretch.”
For a team that’s struggled as the Giants have over the last five years, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype of being 4-1. That said, success in this league can be swept out from underneath you as quickly as it fell at your feet.
But for Jones and his Giants teammates are not about to get swept up in what they've done but rather in what they still have to do.
“I think we are just taking it one week at a time,” said Jones. “I think we’re confident, I think we’re tough, we're competitive, and we know those things. We are confident in those things. So, we are going to take it one week at a time and continue to improve as a group.”
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