With all the talk of a coaching change circling around the New York Giants as they get ready to close out the 2019 season against the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday, two of the team’s brightest young stars aren’t exactly in favor of change.
Rookie quarterback Daniel Jones and second year running back Saquon Barkley told reporters on Thursday they’d like to see head coach Pat Shurmur return in 2020.
“I think obviously that’s a little above my pay grade, but I’ve really enjoyed working with Coach Shurmur and I think he’s done a whole lot for my development and my growth. Yeah, he’s been great for me,” said Jones.
Jones has developed into a pro right before our eyes, tossing 23 touchdowns this season, including five last week in Washington, and leads all NFL rookies in the category. He credits Shurmur for his rapid development and seamless transition to the NFL.
“It’s been huge for me since I’ve gotten here. I think he’s a great coach. I think, particularly for a young quarterback, an opportunity to work with him, as he’s kind of installed his offense and how he sees it and how he’s coached me has been very important to my development, as well as Coach Shula. I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to work with him.”
Barkley, who also had a career-defining game last week, said he has no doubt the team has the right person to lead them forward.
“I do believe,” he said. ” I don’t only believe in Pat Shurmur, but I do believe in all the coaches, I believe in everyone here. It’s easy to point the blame at one person, and that’s what we kind of do. I know this business is a results business, but at the end of the day, it’s not only on one person why we haven’t been successful these last few years. For me, I’m not willing to just give up on somebody. I believe that if we all just continue to fight and continue to fight, have that right mindset, which I do believe and I know that we have, things are going to turn around.”
Barkley also spoke about the notion that the team was playing for Shurmur’s job this week.
“No, that’s not the mindset that we have,’ he said. “That’s not, I guess you could say not only for myself but for this team, we’re just going out—Coach (Shurmur) made it a point, we all made it a point that we want to finish the season off strong. The way we do that is by winning the last game, the last three games of the season. So, we have the opportunity to do that, and that’s the goal.”
The Giants can only finish 5-11 this season with a victory Sunday, the same record they logged in last season. Two seasons of such futility usually earns the coaching staff s pick slip, but should the Giants finish the regular season on a three-game win streak where the offense continues to thrive, it could sway ownership to stay the course just a bit longer.