NFL Preseason: Daniel Jones’ Week 4 start may be his last of 2019
By Bryan Perez
Giants QB Daniel Jones has been so good this preseason that he’s earned a chance to start. Just don’t expect it while New York and Eli Manning are mathematically alive for the playoffs.
It’s been quite the summer for Giants rookie QB Daniel Jones. He’s enjoyed one of the greatest narrative turnarounds in recent memory, going from the mocked and ridiculed sixth overall pick of the 2019 NFL draft to New York’s savior and potentially the best young quarterback in the city.
A preseason like Jones has had will do that for a player’s stock.
Jones is 25-of-30 for 369 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions, including going 9-of-11 for 141 yards in the Giants’ Week 3 preseason win over the Bengals.
Yeah, he’s pretty much been on fire. But with Eli Manning still ahead of him on the depth chart, there’s reason to doubt he’ll see any significant reps in the regular season. There’s even more doubt about whether he’ll start a game.
That won’t change how Jones approaches his rookie season; he’ll handle it just like he is this week in advance of the preseason finale against the Patriots.
“I think just making sure that I’m not making mistakes that I’ve made before, correcting things, and I think just being able to kind of measure improvement from the first, second, to third, to now the fourth game is the biggest thing for me,” Jones said of the improvement he can continue to make. “So, moving the ball and scoring points is always the goal, but I want to make sure I’m moving forward.”
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The quarterback debate in New York will rage on all season, especially if Manning gets off to a slow start. Jones’ preseason performance is already causing fans to demand a switch under center, but the Giants’ loyalty to Manning will continue on. There’s little to no chance New York will make any change at quarterback until they’re out of playoff contention, which won’t be any sooner than midseason.
But for this discussion to even be occurring is quite remarkable for Jones, who deep down inside must be enjoying every second of it.