Jones feeling at ease with Giants stardom
After Daniel Jones showed that he will retaliate in the face of playful pro-Eagles trash talk, his next challenge is leading the Giants to push back against the NFC East’s two top dogs.
During a turn on stage singing along with one of his favorite musicians Saturday in Forest Hills, Jones was hit with a “Go Birds!” by country music star Zach Bryan. A surprised Jones recovered to yell “Let’s go Giants!” into a microphone just as the song died down.
“It’s harder to hear on the stage at first,” Jones told The Post with a laugh. “I kind of caught onto what happened. I respect his Eagles fandom, but I had to get that in at the end.”
It was out of character for Jones to step into the spotlight but perhaps it is a sign that he is growing more secure with his celebrity status after signing a four-year, $160 million contract that cemented his place as the Giants’ franchise quarterback. Would he have done that earlier in his career?
“I don’t know,” Jones said. “Maybe I’m a little bit older and a little bit more comfortable.”
It’s easy for Bryan — or any other Eagles fan — to have bragging rights when Jones is 2-4 (playoffs included) against the Eagles. The same goes for any Cowboys fan when Jones is 1-6 in that rivalry.
Those two teams have finished first or second in the division — in either order — in four of the last five seasons.
Cowboys pass-rusher DeMarcus Lawrence said this week that he doesn’t “feel like it’s a huge gap at all” between the Cowboys and the defending NFC champion Eagles. How close are the Giants?
“We’re confident, and we know we can compete with anybody,” Jones said.
The Giants ended a five-year playoff drought last season despite a 1-4-1 division record.
“We feel like we made progress last year and took a step,” Jones said, “but what we do from this point on, you start over. It’s about what you do now. We had a good spring, and we have to roll that into training camp and make sure we do everything we can.”
To that end, Jones and Saquon Barkley worked out together Sunday at a public field in New Jersey. It was an opportunity to make up for lost reps because Barkley was prohibited from participating in any OTAs or minicamp while delaying signing a franchise tag as leverage during his ongoing contract dispute with the Giants.
“Saquon is always working hard, he’s always going to be in good shape, he’s always going to look good,” Jones said. “Anyone who has been around him is going to expect that from him. We’re talking all the time, staying in touch, getting together when we can. I know he’s got a lot going on, and I really hope the two sides can come together.”
Fresh off his busy weekend, Jones joined Jets receiver Garrett Wilson at the grand opening Tuesday of Raising Cane’s flagship store in Times Square. Jones became a fan of the fast food chain on a Duke football road trip to Baylor but he was able to skip the ribboncutting line of about 300 patrons — some of whom camped outside for 12 hours — this time around.
Next on Jones’ calendar is offensive skill players joining quarterback-organized workouts near his hometown before training camp opens. He gathered the group, including Barkley, in Arizona in April.
“We’re going to get together pretty soon and get some work in,” Jones said. “We’ve gone down to Charlotte in the past, and I think that’s the plan again.”
Training camp dates
The Giants announced that there will be nine training camp practices at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford open to the public between July 26 and Aug. 5 (six at 10 a.m. and three at 5 p.m.).
Tickets are required (but free) and become available July 11 at 2 p.m. for season ticketholders and July 13 at 2 p.m. for the general public.