The New York Giants are 0-4 to start the season and although they’ve played it close in three of those games, there are no moral victories in football. There’s also no forgiveness or patience, which is why the fan base is beginning to boil over second-year quarterback Daniel Jones.
Jones has not thrown a touchdown in three consecutive games and ended a Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Rams with a game-sealing interception inside the red zone.
Never mind that Jones has had a less than efficient offensive line in front of him, no running game to speak of, under-performing tight ends, wide receivers that can not create separation and skill position players that are near the league lead in dropped passes… As it was with Eli Manning before him, it’s all Jones’ fault.
No amount of logic or data will sway those with pitchforks, but head coach Joe Judge remains undeterred.
There will be no quarterback controversy in East Rutherford this season no matter how loud things get on the outside, and Judge made that abundantly clear on Monday, ending any speculation before it even began.
“Look, if you’re asking if Daniel is our quarterback, Daniel is our quarterback,” Judge told reporters. “That’s who we’re playing with. We support him, we have a lot of confidence in him, we have faith in him. Again, he’s a young guy who’s developing. We’ve seen a lot of progress from him day to day. Are there things he needs to correct and clean up, and can we do a better job as coaches and staff to put him in the right situations? Absolutely. But in terms of that blanket statement, I don’t know if there’s ever a pinpoint in terms of what’s the threshold for saying some guy is your guy for whatever. But Daniel is our quarterback.”
Period. End of story.
Still, Judge acknowledges that they must continue to see improvement from Jones, especially in regard to his decision-making.
That, too, has come under fire.
“We can’t sit here and handcuff our quarterback by looking over his shoulder all of the time and second-guessing everything he does,” Judge said. “To us, it’s about the execution he has within the techniques and making the throw at the right time. Look, we have to do a better job all across the board at all positions and all coaches, making sure we finish all the drives.”
That would include receivers creating separation, but the Giants and Jones may just have to accept the reality that such things are not going to come easy in 2020.
“We’re expecting tight coverage and tight throws. It’s the NFL. You’re not going to have a magical scheme that’s going to create guys wide open all the time. We have to do a good job with contested catches and making plays,” Judge said.
Jones is not in an ideal spot — Trevor Lawrence would be struggling too, contrary to popular belief — but this is the hand he’s been dealt. There was lacking talent around him back at Duke, so it’s not exactly uncharted territory. He’s just going to have to find a way to make it work.
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