Daniel Jones still Giants' starter? Brian Daboll noncommittal heading into the bye week

Whether the Daniel Jones era with the Giants is soon coming to an end seems to be a matter of when, not if.

After another subpar performance from Jones in the Giants’ 20-17 overtime loss to the lowly Panthers in Germany on Sunday, coach Brian Daboll was — for the first time — noncommittal about Jones continuing to be the team’s starting quarterback.

“We’re going to spend a lot of time here watching our tape and evaluating things,” Daboll said Monday afternoon in a Zoom call with reporters. “We’ll do that as a coaching staff over the next week here.”

The Giants, now 2-8 and on a five-game losing streak after the overseas heartbreaker, have a bye week to mull over who will be the starter going forward between Jones, backup Drew Lock and third-stringer Tommy DeVito. Their next game is against the Buccaneers at MetLife Stadium on Nov. 24.

When asked if the main factor in the quarterback decision will be who gives the team the best chance to win, Daboll was again evasive.

“Again, we’ll go back and we’ll evaluate everything and decide what we want to do here,” Daboll said. “But we’ve got a week to go ahead and really dig into this.”

Daboll’s tone Monday was a stark change from just three weeks prior. Jones was benched early in the fourth quarter of a 28-3 home loss to the Eagles on Oct. 20, but Daboll emphatically confirmed the next day that he was sticking with his quarterback.

Jones is in the second season of a four-year, $160 million contract he signed in March 2023. But a serious injury, like the torn ACL he suffered last season, could make the scenario of eventually cutting ties with Jones murky — and expensive.

The deal includes a $23 million injury guarantee. If Jones is either on the Giants' roster next March 16 — the fifth day of the 2025 league year — or unable to pass a physical by then, $12 million of his $30 million base salary becomes fully guaranteed.

With the team in clear contention for a premier pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, winning may not be atop the priority list in the quarterback decision. Daboll said he will have communication with general manager Joe Schoen and ownership “if there are any changes, regardless of the position.”

A shuffled order of the three quarterbacks could also be in order. Jones could still get hurt as the backup, and a demotion to third-string, emergency quarterback may be wise if the Giants bench him.

Jones completed 22 of 37 passes for 190 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions Sunday. He ran for a 2-yard score and was sacked twice. Jones’ interceptions each came with the Giants on the doorstep of at least a field-goal attempt.

He threw a pick on second-and-13 from the Carolina 21 with 1:54 left in the second quarter and the Giants in a 10-0 hole. Jones’ second giveaway came with 6:02 left in regulation as the Giants, trailing 17-14, faced third-and-7 from the Carolina 8.

“I mean, not good enough,” Jones said Sunday of his performance. “Any time you turn the ball over twice in the red zone, yeah, not good enough.”

He had a first-half passer rating of just 24.1 in a scoreless 30 minutes for the Giants. Daboll said Sunday that he did not consider a quarterback change at halftime.

Jones’ 46.4 quarterback rating ranks 26th in the NFL, and his 79.4 passer rating ranks 31st . He fell to 24-44-1 in his sixth year as a starter and 3-13 since the start of the 2023 season.

“I think just evaluate what we haven’t done well enough, what’s holding us back, see where I need to be better and where I can help the team,” Jones said Sunday of his mindset heading into the bye. “Yeah, I think that’s the mindset we all need to take going into this second half of the season.”

Lock, a second-round draft pick in 2019, is 9-14 as a starter with the Broncos and the Seahawks. DeVito went 3-3 as a rookie for the Giants last year.

As of Monday, the Giants hold the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Jaguars, also 2-8, sit in the top spot due to owning an easier strength of schedule than the Giants.

With Tom Rock

By Ben Dickson

benjamin.dickson@newsday.com@bendickson__

Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.