New York Giants: Daniel Jones inspires with words fit for a captain

The New York Giants chose their captains for the 2020 season this week. They were composed of Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, Dalvin Tomlinson, Blake Martinez, Jabrill Peppers, and Nate Ebner. A solid group of players to lead the team into battle on a weekly basis, composed of new faces and old ones.

Jones, though, who is only 23 years old, will bear the “C” on his chest for the first season. Following the departure of Eli Manning into the age of retirement, Jones becomes the successor for the Giants and their leader heading into the future.

The young New York Giants quarterback had inspiring words after receiving the honor:

“Being voted by your teammates is a tremendous honor,” Jones stated on Wednesday. “It’s something I don’t take lightly at all and I appreciate the responsibility that the position comes with and what it means. I’m certainly grateful to be in this position to be elected. Like I said, it’s a serious job. It’s something that I don’t think you can take lightly. You have a responsibility to your teammates and to your team to represent them and do what you can to be their voice and lead.”

When it comes to solving problems with a teammate or activating leadership qualities, Jones was confident he can communicate clearly and effectively: 

“Everyone responds to communication in different ways. I think it depends on the guy and the situation,” Jones said when asked about potentially dressing-down a teammate. “There are times where maybe that’s appropriate, but I feel like most of the time, I find it most effective to communicate clearly and make sure that we’re on the same page. I’m comfortable doing that if I need to, but I think each of those situations need to be handled differently. I try to do that the best I can.”

Head coach Joe Judge is confident that Jones is captain-material, composed of professional thread that emerges in the heat of battle. 

“I think the thing that some people may miss on Daniel is he’s quiet natured at times because he is not just up there spouting out. [But] he’s not a quiet guy,” head coach Joe Judge told reporters on Wednesday. “Daniel, you get him going, you get him talking, you get him in the huddle, you get him around the guys, Daniel has a very big personality. He’s a great dude. Until you spend a lot of time with him, you can miss that depth of him as a person. That’s been a really pleasant surprise.

Judge’s time with Jones thus far has been enlightening:

“I always knew he was intelligent, I knew he was respectful, I knew he was a hard worker. Until we really got time to be with each other and spend a training camp together, you don’t really see those layers in people.”