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When initially hired as New York Giants head coach, Joe Judge was careful not to name-drop his players during interviews. In fact, for months he refused to address any by name or offer up any scouting reports without familiarizing himself with everyone.
Fast forward to more than a year later and Judge speaks much more openly about his players — particularly quarterback Daniel Jones.
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While much of the football world continues to criticize the former first-round pick, Judge remains unabashedly complimentary of and confident in his young quarterback.
That trend continued on Wednesday when Judge appeared on the “Flying Coaches” podcast with Sean McVay and NFL analyst Peter Schrager.
“I’m always excited about working with Daniel — I really am,” Judge said. “This guy’s had a really good offseason for us. I thought that Daniel grew a lot last year. And there’s no excuses for anything, everyone had the same obstacles. I thought Daniel going into a new offense last year, without a spring, without really a training camp, without preseason games -— there were some things that he had to adjust to within the season and as a team improved, he was a huge part of it.
“One thing about this guy that I can’t say enough is how everyone responds to him. This is a guy that I didn’t know before I took the job. I didn’t, which is why I was so reserved in making comments about him —- it wasn’t going to be fair to him. The more I’ve gotten to know him, and really you get to know him and watch him work. But this guy is a leader. This is a guy, he steps in the huddle, the guys respond to [him]. Offensively and defensively, these guys all respond to him. He is tough. There’s no hiding that. The team knows that he’s going to play through certain kinds of injuries. And he’s a tough dude. He works relentlessly.”
Judge went on to tell a story about how Jones waited outside of his office on his second day as head coach. Jones wanted to introduce himself and then sit down and talk football — something Judge and Jones do with a level of frequency.
“You talk about leadership, one, you’ve got to do your job effectively,” Judge said. “No one’s going to follow someone who can’t do their job effectively. And No. 2, You’ve got to put the team first. He shows really in how he works inside the building and on the field and stuff with the team away from the facility, that he’s putting the team first in everything he’s doing. I’m very pleased with the leadership he’s taken on this year. He’s really growing as a player, as a professional.”
No matter how things shake out for Jones and the Giants this coming season, there’s no denying that the 24-year-old left no stone unturned this offseason. He’s worked tirelessly and relentlessly, giving it literally everything he’s got. And that will make a coach happy.
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