NY Giants quarterback Daniel Jones made his long-awaited return to the gridiron in Big Blue's preseason game against the Houston Texans. It wasn't what he or G-Men supporters were hoping to see from the $160 million signal-caller, as he finished with two interceptions while completing 11-of-18 pass attempts for 138 yards. Oh, and it came in a 28-10 loss.
The lowlight of Jones' night came on the Giants' second drive of the game when he inexplicably tossed a pick-six to Texans defensive back Jalen Pitre inside the 10-yard line. When Brian Daboll spoke at his postgame press conference, he didn't seem thrilled about his QB1's costly mistake, calling it a 'poor decision.'
#Giants Brian Daboll on Daniel Jones’ first INT, for a pick-6 pic.twitter.com/uBPDcchXU4
— Ryan Dunleavy (@rydunleavy) August 17, 2024
Brian Daboll appeared frustrated with Daniel Jones in press conference
Rather than throwing it away to the sidelines, Jones tried to get fancy by pump-faking a throw to rookie tight end Theo Johnson. Once he realized he was going to be sacked for a safety, the ball went in Johnson's direction anyway. However, Jones' attempt to be the hero quickly backfired, resulting in an easy score for the Texans.
Daboll knew it was an awful decision, and he had no plans of defending his quarterback to the media. He cannot make these errors if NY is going to improve in 2024, especially with star running back Saquon Barkley out of the picture.
Now entering Year 6, Jones is running out of time to prove he is the man in NY. Even if you want to chalk it up to shaking off rust, it isn't a good look to be giving out free points like this. Could he already be losing the locker room's confidence? Perhaps it is his normal demeanor, but Coach Dabes seemed flat-out annoyed when he had to talk about Jones' blunders.
While the fanbase as a whole is frustrated with Danny Dimes' performance, we would also like to see the team's head coach instill more confidence into his starting quarterback. Jones is going to have to really step up his game one Week 1. Otherwise, even more people will be calling for him to hit the bench.