New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones’ apprenticeship under Eli Manning lasted just two games in 2019. Jones took over the job following the team’s Week 2 loss against Buffalo, and sans a two-game stretch near the end of the season where he nursed a sore ankle, has been the starting quarterback every game since.
Jones told reporters that Manning, who retired in January, and he have been in constant touch since Eli left the club.
Daniel Jones has stayed in communication with Eli Manning:
"He's a guy I can talk to and ask questions, he's been extremely helpful"
— Ralph Vacchiano (@RVacchianoSNY) September 23, 2020
Jones and Manning have a lot of similarities. Both are low-key, unexcitable personalities who lead by example. Both were mentored in college by David Cutcliffe — Eli at Ole Miss and Jones at Duke and both take an intelligent approach to the game.
Manning is a likely Hall of Famer and many see the same traits in Jones. Eli had the benefit of great offensive lines earlier in his career, players with the heart of lion such as Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw and a championship defense.
Head coach Joe Judge had this to day about Jones.
“I think you have to keep in mind with young quarterbacks in this league, playing quarterback in the National Football League is the toughest job in professional sports, simply put,” Judge said. “You can try to debate that one way or another, I could argue all day long. That’s the toughest job in professional sports. You look at the truly great ones that have come through our league, without naming names, just think real carefully about how many of those guys were able to have high degrees of success before they had to truly carry a team?
“Think about those real great ones that are going to be wearing gold jackets that have played in this league for call it 15 to 20 years. How many of those guys had the benefit of working with teams that were carried more by defense or the run game or a great arsenal of guys around him that supported him?”
The Giants host the San Francisco 49ers this Sunday. Kyle Shanahan, their head coach, is considered one of the best young minds in the game. He was asked on Wednesday what specifically he likes about Jones’ game.
“How he plays the game – he gets the ball to the right spot, he finds the weakness in the defense, when stuff isn’t there, he has the ability to create. He’s an extremely efficient quarterback, he’s extremely tough, extremely competitive, who can make all the throws needed and you can tell he plays the game the right way. He doesn’t guess, he reacts and sees it. You can see a lot of very good qualities in him. That’s how he looked at Duke and how he looks now,” Shanahan said.
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