Is the Giants' Daniel Jones playing for his starting spot this week?
Daniel Jones of the New York Giants looks on in the second half against the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium on Nov. 3, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
There is speculation outside the Giants locker room that Daniel Jones might not be the starting quarterback after the bye week if he doesn’t perform well on Sunday against the Panthers in Munich, Germany.
If Jones hears that talk about his Giants career and future, he isn’t listening.
“Right now, you’re just focused on this game, focusing on cleaning up on what we need to from last week and then focusing on preparing to play this game,” Jones said on Wednesday after practice. “So there’ll be time to reflect on the bigger picture at some point. But right now I think you’re in the season and taking all the energy on focusing on the next game.”
It was the last game, a 27-22 loss to Washington, that raised eyebrows about Jones’ status. Or, more precisely, the first half of the last game when Jones threw six passes for minus-8 net yards.
“I think obviously we were running the ball very successfully in the first half, and we stuck to that,” Jones said. “Obviously you want to score more points and finish those drives.”
The Giants scored seven points in the first half in the game that dropped them to 2-7. Jones finished 20-for-26 for 174 yards and two touchdown passes and a 2-yard TD run.
“I think he's made a lot of good decisions,” coach Brian Daboll said. “He's improved certain things that we work on. He's got the right mindset. Again, we've said this, he's pretty consistent. He doesn't get too high. He doesn't get too low. He does everything he can do every week to try to play as good as he can play the quarterback position for us.”
Jones, who grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, and went to Duke, said he is looking forward both to playing against the team he grew up rooting for and in his second international game.
“That’s the team I grew up watching and pulling for,” Jones said of Carolina, which is also 2-7. “It’s cool to be able to play [the Panthers]. Gives you some perspective on how far you’ve come and the opportunity you have to play in the NFL and certainly have a lot of appreciation for that. But once the ball’s snapped and kicked off, it’s another game.”
Jones and the Giants played against Green Bay in London two years ago. That trip and the one the Giants will leave for on Thursday evening are the only times he has traveled to Europe.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I’m excited to go over there. I think it’ll be cool to play in that stadium.”
Wink and a shot
Former Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who resigned in January after a rocky relationship with Daboll and is now at the University of Michigan, was asked on Wednesday about coaching in college.
“I’m glad I’m here,” he said, according to WolverinesWire.com. “I love the players we have . . . It’s a lot better than being in some places that are 2-7."
The Art of cutting Nick McCloud
Daboll on why the Giants cut DB Nick McCloud, who had started five games, and elevated DB Art Green from the practice squad: “I would just say that that's a decision that we made and Art's going to have an opportunity.”
ESPN reported that McCloud refused the Giants’ request that he take a pay cut from his $3 million salary.
Asked if the financial side of the decision had to be smoothed over in the locker room, Daboll said: “I'd say there's a lot of changes on a weekly basis in the NFL and I think everybody that's involved in it understands.”
"I don't really know the ins and outs of why it happened," linebacker Brian Burns said of McCloud's release. "But that's somebody I got close to since I got here, so it's a bummer .. . For sure, he's a dog on special teams and he knows everything through and through with the defense. I always thought he was an asset."
On Green, Daboll said: “He's been doing a good job. Going to give him an opportunity at gunner. Some DB stuff, kind of fourth, fifth DB. He's done a good job since he's been here.”
Blue notes
K Graham Gano (hamstring) has been cleared to practice and could return on Sunday. . . . Punter Jamie Gillan, who has also been out with a hamstring injury, is expected to return Sunday, but the Giants will bring both of their kicking/punting backups to Munich just in case . . . WR Darius Slayton (concussion) may not be cleared to travel, Daboll said.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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