Daniel Jones not bothered by Baker Mayfield’s opinions

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has a million things on his mind, but the opinions of one of his fellow NFL quarterbacks isn’t one of them.

Jones, who found himself dragged into the day’s headlines thanks to a feature story in the forthcoming issue of GQ in which Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield expressed surprise that the Giants drafted the former Duke signal-caller, is only worried about his next practice and subsequently his next game, the latter of which will come Thursday night.

“I try not to listen to much that’s said,” Jones said Tuesday. “I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that. I heard that before, I kind of have the same mindset, I certainly have a lot to focus on here, I have a lot to worry about here and I’m focused on that. It’s been good, but just focused on what I’m doing here.”

Jones, who at times has been a clone to Eli Manning, a player who also has let criticism leveled against him roll off his back like sweat, has been having a strong spring and summer in calming concerns of a fan base of which about half expressed outrage when the Giants drafted him sixth overall.

In the article, Mayfield was quoted as saying, “I cannot believe the Giants took Daniel Jones. Blows my mind…Some people overthink it [what makes a good quarterback]. That’s where they go wrong. They forget you’ve gotta win.”

Mayfield has since walked back his comments, but not before they created yet another firestorm for the second-year quarterback, who earlier this summer took aim at the Giants fan base for their failure to support receiver Odell Beckham Jr, whom the Giants traded to the Browns in March.

The Giants have made an effort to avoid getting dragged into a war of words with Mayfield and Beckham, the latter of whom again made headlines by taking aim at the Giants and, in an article appearing on SI.com, accusing the Giants of making the trade personal by suggesting that the Giants “thought they’d send me (to Cleveland) to die.”

General manager Dave Gettleman, in his annual training camp press conference, refused to address questions received about Beckham’s past accusations. And not only has Jones declined to get into a war of words, so too has head coach Pat Shurmur.

"That’s not original commentary, is it?" Shurmur said with a straight face. "We had a reason for why we did (draft Daniel), and we do feel like he helped his team win. We have a lot of reasons why Daniel is our quarterback. Beyond that, I don’t have much response."

Jones, who has yet to meet Mayfield, shook his head when asked if criticism from his contemporaries serves as an added motivation.

“I don’t think that’s a main motivator for me,” he said. “I think there is a lot of things before that that motivate me, to be honest. He has an opinion—a lot of people have opinions.”

But Jones did add that any beliefs about him lacking passion were not true.

“I think I am a very passionate person,” he said. “I don’t always show it, but I think I am a very passionate person.”

Shurmur agreed.

"The one thing about Dan is, don’t confuse calm and composed for a guy that’s competitive and a winner," he said.

"I’m fond of the phrase, ‘still waters run deep,’ so that’s what I think of Dan. Beyond that, I have no other comment."

Jones did admit that it bothered him that he didn’t win more games while at Duke. “I played a big part in that,” he said.

“Our goal was always to win ACC championships and to go to big bowl games and we weren’t able to do that. I don’t look back on that without a large responsibility for that.”

But rather than dwell on that, Jones has his eye firmly on the future with the future as he readies himself for another dose of preseason action and his first NFL road game Thursday night against the Bengals.

“As I said, my focus is here, in the building, my teammates, coaches, and everyone a part of this organization,” Jones said.

“When you get outside the building, I don’t think it does a whole lot to focus on that for me.

“For the most part, I try to do a pretty good job of controlling myself. I feel like I’m thinking best and playing best when I’m in control of myself. … I think I speak for the team— we’re really focused on what we’re doing here and making sure we’re ready to play going into the season.”

(Top photo by Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)

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