New York Giants QB Daniel Jones Discusses Growth in New Offense

It's been a slow process, but Jones, the Giants' fourth-year quarterback, says he's been getting increasingly comfortable in the team's offense.

Author:
Gene Clemons
Publish date:
Aug 19, 2022 9:20 AM EDT

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New York Giants

Daniel Jones has been becoming more comfortable in this new Giants offense. One of the things he has focused on is taking ownership over the offense and dialing into what can help him be successful on the field. Four weeks into training camp and one preseason game under his belt, Jones discussed sticking to the process even when he is having good and bad days.

"I think that’s part of playing any position, especially quarterback. You’re dealing with it when it's not always easy, and you’re having to come back and play well, learn from the situation, and make a change and continue to improve. That’s a big part of the position; that’s a big part of playing football. I think it's about learning and not repeating mistakes."

Focusing on not repeating mistakes clearly shows maturity for the Giants signal caller. Maturity has always been there off the field for Jones, but on-the-field maturity is something he has needed to improve from past seasons. Part of that maturity comes from being forced to learn his third offense in four seasons. Jones was asked when he believed this new offense would stop being a Bills or Chiefs offense and become a Giants offense.

"I think that’s already happened and happening. I think that’s a constant process, though. I don’t think that ever stops. You're growing in that and learning what we do best, learning what our guys can do and want to do, I think, is a big thing, and continuing to work through that. So, I don’t think that every stop, I think it is our system, I think we've made a lot of those changes, we've learned a lot through camp, and we'll continue to do so."

Jones also acknowledged that he spent the summer looking at Bills and Chiefs clips, but at this point, they are now entirely focused on self-scouting and evaluating their own play within this offense.

"I think at this point, we've run pretty much everything in the system, so we have those clips to look back on to watch and study mostly. So, yeah, we're mostly watching our stuff."

Another player who knows about learning multiple offenses in a short amount of time is quarterback Tyrod Taylor. He is now on his sixth team in his 12-year NFL career and his fifth offense in the last six years. He has also built a reputation for being a consummate professional. In the short time Jones and Taylor have been teammates, Jones says he has already learned a lot from the veteran.

"He's been in the league for a long time and played a lot of football. He's an experienced guy, he's got a routine that he sticks to, and he's really consistent with that. Just hearing his experience and hearing how he looks at certain situations, how he looks at certain plays. His outlook on things has been helpful, so I've enjoyed working with him."

How Jones looks at this offense will be vital to how he and this team performs in it. That's why it has been so imperative that Jones takes ownership of this offense and makes it as comfortable and friendly as he can.

To their credit, Jones discussed how head coach Brian Daboll and offensive coordinator Mike Kafka have empowered Jones to voice his opinion. As a result, he has been able to communicate easily about what he believes works for him and what does not.

"I think that’s something that they’ve stressed to me throughout this whole process, and I'm very comfortable doing that. There’s an open dialogue, and we're constantly studying that, talking about it, having those discussions. Sometimes it takes running things on the practice field, multiple looks at it against certain coverages. That helps you figure out what it is, what you don’t like, and what you do like," Jones mentioned about their conversation.

"We're going through that, and that’s a constant process of running the plays, studying them, talking about them, seeing if we can tweak something here or there or what suits us best. But yes, that’s been a good process."

That comfort spilled over into practice because Jones and another polarizing offensive player, receiver Kenny Golladay, could link up several times, including a deep ball that Golladay was able to corral. Jones pushed the ball downfield several times and felt good about his expectations and the bonds he's trying to build with his receiver.

"Yeah, I thought he made some plays (Thursday). I thought we spread the ball around well, and obviously, he had the deep shot, and he made a nice adjustment on, a big play there. I think he's had a good camp, and you know we’ll keep working with him."