NY Giants’ Darius Slayton: Daniel Jones suddenly ‘jacked’ after offseason

Ahead of a year with high expectations, and much pressure, NY Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has bulked up in the weight room this offseason

It sounds like NY Giants quarterback Daniel Jones understands what’s at stake for Danny Dimes in New York.

Jones could be facing a make-or-break third NFL season, after the NY Giants bolstered his supporting cast by signing wide receivers Kenny Golladay and John Ross, drafting Kadarius Toney No. 20 overall, signing tight end Kyle Rudolph and running back Saquon Barkley’s anticipated return from a torn ACL, after underperforming his first two seasons since being chosen No. 6 overall in the NFL Draft.

NY Giants head coach Joe Judge has said that he has set the expectations for Jones, and from the sounds of it, the former Duke quarterback has taken those conversations to heart.

"“I think he’s grown tremendously,” NY Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton told reporters Thursday. “Physically in his body, it’s almost like this last off-season, he was all of a sudden jacked and actually had cuts in his arms and stuff. You know, he actually made a physical change and he’s grown as a leader — as well as physically developing has become a better football player.”"

Jones dedicating himself to bulking up in the weight room, might help him from a durability standpoint, after he missed two games due to a hamstring injury and sprained ankle last season.

But, it is the production that is going to matter most, both in the Giants‘ hopes of snapping a four-year postseason drought and making the NFL Playoffs for the second time in nine seasons and in determining whether Jones is the long-term solution at quarterback.

Through his first two seasons, Jones has tossed just 35 touchdowns to 22 interceptions and lost 17 of his 29 fumbles.

That won’t cut it.

Judge knows that. The NY Giants know that. Most importantly, though, Jones seems to know that, as well.

"“I think right now my focus is on what I can do to improve,” Jones said last week. “And I think making sure that I’m improving every day and getting myself in a position to go into training camp prepared and be prepared to start the season. So I think that’s my focus now that there’s — we’ve all got  to perform in the NFL and you’re expected to perform at a certain level. So certainly understand that, but right now, the only way to get there is to focus on what we’re doing here every day at practice.”"

Matt Lombardo is FanSided’s National NFL Insider and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday. Email Matt: Matt.Lombardo@FanSided.com, Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattLombardoNFL