John Mara, Dave Gettleman Pledge Support for Daniel Jones Despite Disappointing Season
The Giants were looking for a big second-year jump out of their young franchise quarterback Daniel Jones heading into the 2020 season but didn't quite find the results they were looking for.
Not all of that was on Jones, who, after appearing to finally find a comfort level in offensive coordinator Jason Garrett's system around the midway mark of the season, was set back by hamstring and ankle injuries.
Still, those circumstances haven't caused questions about Jones's qualifications to be a franchise quarterback to subside. But the people who have a direct say on that decision--co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch, general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Joe Judge--have placed their faith in the former Duke quarterback for the upcoming 2021 season and beyond.
Judge endorsed Jones as the Giants' franchise quarterback multiple times throughout the season, several times unsolicited. On Wednesday, Mara and Gettleman added their public support for the quarterback as well.
Gettleman, who will be retained for his fourth year at the Giants' helm in 2021, has his legacy tied into Jones, as his decision to go with the David Cutcliffe mentored Jones with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft sent shockwaves through some corners of the league.
Thus, Gettleman has no room to backtrack on Jones heading into 2021, as expectations are bound to be higher, and another 6-10 season likely won't be enough to keep either of them around long term.
"We have complete confidence in him moving forward," Gettleman said.
Meanwhile, Mara is thought to have greenlighted Gettleman's decision to draft Jones back in 2019 and shares Gettleman's confidence that he will improve in 2021.
"Our coaches, all of them, are very high on Daniel, and I feel the same way," Mara said. "I think he has what it takes to lead us to where we want to go."
In his first full season as the full-time starter without the shadow of Manning hovering over him, Jones did not see the statistical leap forward, the first half of his second season still plagued by the mistakes seen in his rookie year.
Through Jones' first eight starts of 2020, he committed 13 turnovers while throwing just seven touchdown passes behind a new offensive line slow to jell and in an offense that lost running back Saquon Barkley for the bulk of the season and was without receiver Sterling Shepard for a while due to turf toe.
However, Jones made considerable improvements in the second half of the season, committing just two turnovers while scoring five touchdowns in his final six starts.
Still, Jones never quite matched the production he flashed his rookie year, in which he passed for over 3,000 yards and scored 24 total touchdowns, three times throwing for 4+ touchdown passes in a game as a rookie.
As previously noted, Jones struggled with injuries in his second season, just as he did as a rookie when he missed three games with a high ankle sprain.
This year, he suffered a hamstring strain in the Giants' Week 11 win over the Bengals and would miss the following week's win against Seattle.
Jones rushed back for a Week 14 meeting with the Cardinals. Still, his lack of mobility ended up hurting him more than anyone anticipated as he was hit repeatedly, one such hit resulting in his ankle being twisted when he was caught between two defenders.
After being sidelined for the team's Week 15 loss to the Browns, Jones was back on the field for the final two games of the season and put up a strong performance in both, a loss to Baltimore but a big 23-19 win over Dallas.
"I think Daniel before he got hurt was playing really well during that winning streak that we had," Mara said. "Then he got hurt, I think it was in Cincinnati, and then he wasn’t quite the same for the next few weeks. I thought he played very well this past Sunday, and also played well in the Baltimore game."
Outside of Jones' injury-riddled start against the Cardinals, the improvement in efficiency and elimination of mistakes is a promising step for the Giants.
With Barkley's anticipated return, improved chemistry in the offensive line, and potential additions to his receiving arsenal in the offseason, the hope is Jones will take that long-awaited next step in 2021, his third season,
"He finished the season very strong," Gettleman said. "He played well against Baltimore despite getting chased all over the place to a degree--made some big-time throws. Really and truly, it may sound trite, but obviously, the last game of the year was a playoff game for us. It really was. We have to win that game to force Washington to win their game. Daniel played very well.
"He’s made of the right stuff mentally and physically. Again, we’re talking about a young quarterback who has had two different offensive coordinators in the NFL. Two different systems. Obviously, he had a different one at Duke so he got three different systems in three years. I thought he got beyond the hamstring the last two games and he played well."
