Bills head coach Sean McDermott advises patience as Giants continue to develop Daniel Jones

Although he's been a defensive-minded coach, Bills head coach Sean McDermott has had a front-row seat for the development of three prior franchise quarterbacks, and has a few words of wisdom for Giants fans anxious to rush Daniel Jones onto the field.

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As the Giants continue their master plan in getting rookie quarterback Daniel Jones ready to eventually take over the offense full-time, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott, himself no stranger to the process of breaking in a young quarterback, offered some thoughts regarding the process.

McDermott has been down that road three times in his career, with the Eagles when they drafted Donovan McNabb in 1999, with Carolina when they drafted Cam Newton in 2011, and last year when the Bills selected Josh Allen.

Although McDermott is a defensive-minded coach, he’s still had a front-row seat in witnessing the behind the scenes tactics used to developing franchise quarterbacks. 

The key takeaway he’s reached in finding the best approach is to show patience in a process that isn’t necessarily going to play out overnight.

“You have to continually chase the vision while trying to be as good as you can,” McDermott said on a conference call Wednesday with Giants writers. 

“With respect to fundamentals and everything, the young quarterback will develop over the course of time, and within that, there will be some growing pains. That’s where he has to continue to grow and learn and the rest of the team has to step their game up.”

Last year, Allen was thrown right into the mix, appearing in the Bills first six games with five starts before an elbow injury put him on the shelf for four games.

By season’s end, Allen had appeared in 12 games for the Bills, completing 169 of 320 pass attempts for 2,074 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions while absorbing 28 sacks. 

His 52.8% completion percentage ranked last among the five other quarterbacks in his draft class who had a minimum of 390 dropbacks in 2018.

In one game this year, Allen is off to a better start, having completed 37 of 44 pass attempts for 254 yards and a touchdown. But nestled in his stats are two interceptions.

“I think Josh, like a lot of young quarterbacks, is off to a start where there have been some good plays, and some plays he’d like to have back,” McDermott said. “The key is that he continues to grow and continues to evolve.”

That’s the message that Giants head coach Pat Shurmur, who was n the Eagles staff with McDermott from 1999-2008 has been telling anyone who will listen regarding the Giants plans in brining Jones along.

Shurmur has repeatedly said that the organization will continue to stick with veteran Eli Manning but that Jones’ development, which may include a few live game reps here and there, will continue behind the scenes.

Jones received some live-game reps in Sunday's Week 1 loss to the Cowboys. He completed four of five pass attempts, but saw his one and only drive end when he lost the handle on the ball when trying to scramble for a first down.