New York Giants co-owner John Mara is not backing down on his support of quarterback Daniel Jones. In fact, he’s doubling and tripling down.
While speaking to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post at the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Mara admitted to a sad reality: the Giants have not fielded an even remotely competitive team since Jones was drafted sixth overall in 2019.
Mara blamed injuries for some of the team’s woes.
“You tell me what quarterback could have thrived over these last couple years with what we had out there on offense?” Mara said. “I was in a health and safety committee meeting the other day and they showed our injuries over the last four years as compared with [other teams]. The last four years, we had more injuries than anybody in the league and a lot of ’em were on offense. So let’s give him a chance with a new staff and a better offensive line and we think he’ll be very successful.”
The Giants are the NFL’s most-injured team since 2009. That’s an undeniably dose of reality.
Beyond just that, Mara has seen flashes in Jones that prove his ceiling remains high. One game he cited was not the comeback victory over Tampa Bay during Jones’ rookie season, but a 27-21 overtime victory in New Orleans this past season.
That was a win that came with the Giants sporting one of their thinnest rosters in recent memory.
“We still have a lot of confidence in Daniel and think he’s going to be a very good quarterback if we just put the right pieces around him and give him a little bit more continuity and stability,” Mara said. “He hasn’t had that since he’s been here. Let’s give him a chance to prove himself. He’s shown flashes of it, for sure.
“You go back to that game in New Orleans, he played as well as anybody ever could have expected. We think there’s a lot more of that left in him if we can just put the right pieces around him.”
The signing of veteran quarterback Tyrod Taylor doesn’t change Mara’s opinion on Jones. It does, however, give him confidence in the event Jones, who has a history with injuries, misses time.
“I think having Tyrod Taylor will certainly let us sleep better at night, knowing that if something happens to Daniel we have somebody who can walk in there and at least allow us to compete and win some games,” Mara added.
Ultimately, Mara says, 2022 will be The Daniel Jones Show. General manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll are on board.
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