The New York Giants open the preseason tomorrow night against the Jets, but Daniel Jones won’t be on the field. That’s not because of an injury, but because of Joe Judge keeping Jones out by coaching decision and choosing to focus on evaluation over playing starters. Even if Jones is sitting out, however, he can’t escape the attention of the press.
Jones was asked on Thursday about his thoughts on sitting out but didn’t have any answers outside of the expected ones. He pointed out the truth of the matter, which is that the decision isn’t in his hands. However, his statements about the team’s progress as well as his own expectations in year three may be more interesting to some.
“I think if you look at where we were three weeks in last year versus where we are now in terms of what we were installing or the conversations we were having about certain plays, we’re obviously at a much higher level this year. I think we are able to install plays faster, which puts us further ahead week three than where we were last year,” Jones told reporters. “So that’s an advantage for us and for the whole offense.”
The Giants haven’t had to deal with the same widespread COVID-19 restrictions that impacted last year’s training camp.
The hope has been that with a full offseason, Jason Garrett’s offense will be properly implemented unlike last year. While the preseason is ultimately unimportant outside of evaluating players, it will be one of the few chances before the regular season to see if that has happened.
Daniel Jones in year three
Daniel Jones stopped short of talking directly about the expectations placed on him this season, but was asked about the year three progress of Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield. While Jones did give a safe answer, he appeared to acknowledge the comparison.
“Yeah, there’s certainly stuff to learn from those guys and learn from people who have had success early in their careers, whether it be year two, three, four, whatever it is. I’m focused on improving myself and making sure that I’m in a position to play well and this offense is in a position to play well,” Jones said.
But the spotlight won’t be on Jones just yet, as Mike Glennon has the start against the Jets. There’s still some time before we’ll see Jones in a game that matters, so in all likelihood, his future performance will remain a subject of speculation and debate right up until the start of the regular season.