Giants rookie quarterback Jones ready to stand up to criticism
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – This was not the first time Daniel Jones walked into 1925 Giants Drive, the training facility of his new team.
But the entrance made by the former Duke quarterback last week just felt different.
It felt right, Jones said, like this was where he was meant to be, the pressure of being the next quarterback of the New York Giants and everything that comes with the expectation an accepted part of it.
And you don’t walk through the doors of one of the NFL’s flagship franchises without noticing the four Vince Lombardi trophies intentionally placed in the display case to the left.
The more the Giants have struggled in recent years, the heavier of a burden that championship hardware carries for those tasked with trying to get back in contention for a fifth.
“Motivating,” Jones told USA TODAY Network when asked for his reaction to seeing the display at last weekend’s rookie camp. “I definitely hope to be a part of putting a few new ones in that case. When you see those trophies, you immediately understand the legacy of the New York Giants, the responsibility of what it means to be a New York Giant.”
Being the quarterback of those Giants raises the magnitude of the job to another level, the one Jones was picked No. 6 overall in early May to ultimately inherit when Eli Manning plays his final game, whenever that might be. Jones turns 22 this month, and he received his introduction to the New York/ New Jersey sports landscape with a throng of reporters and cameras to capture his every move.
By most accounts, Jones aced that first test. His personality has not been questioned.
Yet the true measure of whether he can live up to what the Giants believe he can be, with intense criticism of Gettleman and team brass for selecting him when they did, some for picking him at all, the judgment on Jones will be handed down with regard to how he performs on the field.
Arm strength. Decisionmaking. The ability to make all of the necessary throws to survive as a quarterback in the league, let alone win.
The Giants like the fact that Jones reminds some of Manning, but they don’t want him to be Eli 2.0.
“When we went through the process, we were very certain that he would be his own man. That’s why we picked him,” Giants coach Pat Shurmur said of Jones. “We were very certain that he can handle the scrutiny that comes with being the quarterback of the New York Football Giants. A lot of attention, there’s a lot of passion for what we do and especially for the guy who plays that position . ... Listen, if you’re in this game long enough, you’re in the arena, you get cheered and you get booed, and he’s smart enough to know how to handle that type of stuff.”
There has been incessant laughing at the Giants over the past couple of weeks, and Jones has been caught up in the negativity. His status as a first-round pick and the future at the position has been debated since Gettleman made the bold move.
“It would be hard to be completely unaware of a lot of that AP stuff and the way it works. I don’t focus on it,” Jones said. “There is a lot to focus on and a lot to learn right now. Being here, learning the offense and trying to pick up a bunch of stuff. I am not sure I can really afford to focus on a lot of that stuff.”
Larry McNulty, Jones’ high school coach at Charlotte Latin, said that those who doubt his former quarterback would make him want to prove them wrong, not to mention proving the Giants’ right.
“Don’t be fooled, he is a very fierce competitor, he hates losing, he hates looking bad,” McNulty said. “My thinking at this point is that he will do whatever he needs to do to get to wherever he needs to go.”