Jones will be the quarterback next week vs. Pittsburgh
Daniel Jones will remain the starting quarterback of the New York Giants next Monday when they travel to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. Head coach Brian Daboll made that clear at the outset of his post-game press conference after pulling Jones in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 28-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
“Daniel will be the quarterback going forward,” Daboll said before even being a question he had to know was coming.
Daboll had pulled Jones with 11:26 to go and the Giants trailing by the eventual final score of 28-3. Jones completed 14 of 21 passes for 99 yards, took seven sacks for a loss of 56 yards, and ran five times for 20 yards against the Eagles.
“We made a change in the fourth quarter just to create a spark,” Daboll said. “We had a hundred yards.
“Honestly didn’t do enough offensively. Hardly had any yards or points.”
The Giants finished with 119 yards of total offense. Former Giants star Saquon Barkley had 187 yards of total offense (176 rushing) for Philadelphia.
Daboll was asked why he didn’t remove Jones earlier vs. the Eagles.
“I thought we had some chances there to make some plays. Just didn’t make them. Wasn’t going to take them out then,” Daboll said. “All the way around, not just the quarterback. Coaching, everything. Just wasn’t good enough.”
The Giants are now 0-4 at home and have scored just 31 points in those games, 7.75 per game. They have just one touchdown, and Jones has yet to throw a touchdown pass at MetLife Stadium.
Lock didn’t distinguish himself. His first play was a mishandled shotgun snap. He finished 3 of 8 for 6 yards.
Jones said he was “frustrated” by the performance and “didn’t like it” when Daboll took him out.
Jones, of course, has no guaranteed money on his contract beyond this season. Is he concerned about his long-term future as the team’s quarterback as the season slips away?
“I’m just going to continue to prepare and try to play as well as I can,” Jones said. “It’s his team. Up to him to make those decisions. I believe in myself, believe in this offense. I’m just going to focus on myself.”
Daboll pointed to third down, red zone, and lack of explosive plays as ongoing problems with the offense.
“Just not good enough all the way around,” Daboll said.
The Giants were 3 of 14 (21%) on third down vs. the Eagles. They were 0 for 1 in the red zone, losing a touchdown when a 10-yard scoring pass to Theo Johnson was negated by an offensive pass interference penalty on Johnson. Their longest play on Sunday was 14 yards, and they had just six plays that gained at least 10 yards.
“it’s hard to generate points when your longest play is 14 yards or your longest play last week was 15 yards,” Daboll said. “So, you can do that one of two ways. Catch and run. Things like that. Or, push the ball down the field and give our guys some chances or go up and make some plays.
“We’re continuing to work on that. Those are two areas that put a lot of time and effort in. We’re not getting results. Not equal in the work and effort that we’re putting into it.”
Jones did not shy away from responsibility.
“I’m the quarterback, it’s my responsibility to get everything going and build momentum, execute the opportunities that are there,” Jones said. “I take that seriously, so I’ll certainly look at myself first and see where I can improve.
“Football’s a team game and it takes everybody playing well. I’ve got a big role in that.”
Jones will continue to have that role next Monday against the Steelers. How long he will have it after that if things don’t improve is anyone’s guess.
