New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones got his first taste of NFL action since suffering a torn ACL last November - and the early results were not pretty .
On Saturday, Jones took the field at NRG Stadium for the Giants’ second preseason game against the Houston Texans . Almost immediately, it became apparent that he still has some rust to shake off.
Jones kickstarted the Giants’ opening drive by nearly throwing an interception to Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr on his first pass of the afternoon. New York would end up going three-and-out on the possession, but reclaimed the ball deep in its territory after stopping Houston on fourth down in the red zone.
After dropping back into his endzone on the ensuing drive, Jones faced heavy pressure from an oncoming Texans defender. As the 27-year-old was being wrangled down to the turf for what would’ve been a safety, he lollipop tossed the ball in the direction of tight end Theo Johnson. The ill-advised pass was swiftly reeled in by defensive back Jalen Pitre, who ran it back five yards for the easy pick-six.
It didn’t take long for Jones’ day to go from bad to worse. Just under five minutes later, the signal-caller attempted to thread the needle to Jalin Hyatt down the sideline, but his pass was cut off and intercepted by Stingley Jr. in the red zone.
To his credit, Jones did show flashes of the player that the Giants deemed worthy of a four-year, $160 million contract. He connected with star rookie wideout Malik Nabers four times for 54 yards, as well as took off for a 12-yard scramble - a promising sign that the season-ending knee injury he sustained in Week 9 of the 2023 campaign is now a distant memory.
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All-in-all, Jones finished the game completing 11-of-18 passes for 138 yards and two interceptions. He successfully orchestrated two scoring drives, which is all the points that the Giants could muster in a 28-10 loss.
On the heels of a disappointing 6-11 season, pressure is mounting for Jones to prove worthy of the lucrative deal the Giants awarded him. Several months prior to his unflattering preseason debut, New York reportedly looked into moving up in the 2024 NFL Draft in hopes of selecting a young quarterback to replace him.
Despite his underwhelming return to action, it appears as though Jones still has the support of Giants fans behind him. After Tom Brady raised a hypothetical situation in which Jones threw an interception while speaking at Fanaticsfest on Friday, the seven-time Super Bowl Champion was showered in boos by the New York crowd.
Brady promptly attempted to walk back the comment, insisting, "I wasn't even being critical of Daniel Jones," before conceding: "Maybe I was a little bit."
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