Brian Daboll Reveals How He's Been Nurturing QB Daniel Jones' Professional Growth

It's early, but Daniel Jones seems to be on the right path under head coach Brian Daboll's tutelage.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Sep 22, 2022 1:00 PM EDT

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New York Giants

There are many important relationships on a football team, but perhaps none more important than the head coach and the quarterback, on whom the team's success is often tied.

So for first-year head coach Brian Daboll, who inherited fourth-year quarterback Daniel Jones, if there was some anxiety on either man’s part about the kind of relationship they might have had, that was to be expected.

These days, both Daboll and Jones have become more and more comfortable with each other on and off the field as they build up that all-important relationship.

“He’s very steady,” Daboll said of Jones. “I’m a fairly emotional guy, and it’s a good mix because I can get pretty high strung at times, and he’s very, very consistent.”

“I think we’ve had good communication the whole time through practice and then the games as well,” Jones said. “That’s his personality, but I think the communication has always been there. I think it’s gone well.”

Communication aside, Daboll has been tasked with helping Jones finally take that big step toward quieting critics who question whether he is an NFL franchise quarterback. To accomplish that, Daboll has collaborated with offensive coordinator Mike Kafka and Jones in designing a system that emphasizes what Jones and his playmakers do well.

Daboll has also encouraged Jones to let it rip in practice, and be unafraid of making mistakes, a sharp contrast from the approach taken by the previous coaching staff.

“That’s part of the process,” Jones said. “I think, anytime you put in a new system and guys are all learning it together. That’s going to be part of it, but I think the coaches did a good job correcting things and getting everyone on the same page. We were kind of able to grow together through that.”

While other coaches have come in claiming to be teachers, Daboll has taken the role to heart regarding his quarterback.

“I’ve loved him up,” Daboll said. “What a teacher is supposed to do is teach them, ‘Hey. This is what you did. First of all, tell me why you do it.’ Because it’s a tough position to play. Everybody can see it from the outside, but unless you’re standing back there in the pocket, which I’m not either, you see a lot of different things.

"They happen fast. (I’ll say), ‘Let’s talk about what you saw. Here’s what I saw. Let’s make a correction.’ I’d say that’s usually the way it works. If there’s a really poor decision, maybe that’s not as much what you see versus what I saw.”

Jones chuckled when told of Daboll’s choice of words. “I don’t know. I think he’s always communicating. He always wants to talk and see what you’re thinking, get on the same page. Understand how you’re reading certain things, what you saw in a certain play in practice,” he said.

“I think over time, the more you communicate, the more you talk and go through those conversations, the better the relationship you’re building. That’s how it’s been. He wants to know things off the field as well. You’ve heard guys talking about him face timing and wanting to build relationships with players, so I think that’s how he does it.”

So far, the approach by Daboll, whom Jones said used to Facetime him when he was first hired to build a relationship, has worked.

“I think he’s made really good decisions,” Daboll said of Jones. “There’s always plays that we can be better at. But his decision-making process – where he’s gone with the football – he’s made the right decision, I’d say, a lot. And that helps.

“The job of the quarterback … is to help the offense move the football, whatever that is. It starts with decision-making at quarterback. He touches the ball on every play. And he’s done a good job of that. We’re going to continue to build that. But I’m pleased with where he’s at.”