Maybe you aren’t sold yet. Maybe you still remember all the times these past few years when you were just about ready to embrace Daniel Jones as the long-term solution as the Giants’ quarterback and then something happened — a brutal interception, an untimely fumble, an unfortunate injury — that would make you back off.
Maybe you still haven’t seen enough.
And — more to the point — maybe Joe Schoen still hasn’t seen enough, since Jones’ fate will ultimately be decided by the Giants general manager who, it should always be remembered, inherited Jones.
But Jones is certainly making a hell of a case for himself. Sunday he led the Giants to their most magnificent victory in years, a 27-22 stunner of the Green Bay Packers at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Giants are 4-1. Raise your hand if you saw that coming back in August.
He did this while his ankle barked at him and while blood oozed from his hand. He did it without four of his favorite receivers. He did it with Saquon Barkley spending time in the medical tent before returning to help co-author this seminal win alongside Jones and a gritty Giants defense that kept Aaron Rodgers off the scoreboard in the second half and out of the end zone during a last-minute drive that seemed certain — until it was over — to force overtime.
“We’ve got a tough group, a group that’s going to compete for four quarters and 60 minutes,” Jones said. “And we found a way to fight back at the end.”
Daniel Jones carried the Giants to victory on a bum ankle. Hugo Philpott/UPI/ShutterstockJones’ performance would have been notable even if the result had been different because of the simple fact that he answered the bell Sunday, playing despite a bum ankle, fearlessly toting the ball even if he was clearly slowed by a step or two, slinging it to secondary and tertiary receivers on long, beautiful scoring drives.
Jones’ final numbers were splendid — 21-for-27, 217 yards passing, 10 carries for 37 yards rushing — but the numbers that mattered most were the ones that will ultimately define whether he is the Giants’ quarterback of the future or merely their quarterback of the moment:
Giants 27, Packers 22.
Consider that a resounding piece of testimony on Jones’ behalf.
Daniel Jones continues to impress throughout the season, especially this Sunday against the Packers. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY SportsAnd maybe consider this one, too, since Giants coach Brian Daboll will likely also have a say and a sway in determining the Giants’ coming decisions:
“The quarterback,” he said, “had an excellent game. He’s had a few of those.”
He really has. Jones still resides in that murky middle class below the elite roster of quarterbacks and above the pedestrian ones, sandwiched between the Mahones/Brady/Rodgers/Allen/Jackson penthouse and the crowded outhouse of scufflers and scofflaws littering NFL backfields. But if he was a hit song, he would have a red star on his name — definitely on the rise.
From here? That’s anyone’s guess. But it is impossible to watch Jones week after week and not see an intriguing multifaceted weapon forever lurking inside the No. 8 jersey. Maybe in different circumstances, with a different coach, this would be an easier call.
But the Daboll-Jones marriage has already borne fruit and promotes genuine belief. The Giants are not 4-1 by accident, and they didn’t earn any of those wins in a lottery. Maybe you are as reluctant to label this team “legit” so soon as you are to similarly embrace Jones. That’s fine. There’s plenty of season left, plenty of chances for both team and quarterback to back up their early speed.
“How people view us, I don’t think we’re concerned with that,” Jones said. “We’ll continue to do what we need to do to get better and become a better team.”
Daniel Jones’ throwing hand got cut and was bleeding during the Giants’ win over the Packers. NFL NetworkJones downplayed the impact of the ankle injury he sustained last week against the Bears — “It felt good throughout the game and throughout the week,” he insisted — because if there’s one thing we have absolutely learned about him so far it’s that he is a stoic quarterback very much in keeping with the local lineage, very much in the mold of Y.A. Tittle and Phil Simms and Eli Manning.
He may hurt. He may bleed. But he’s not going to be the one to tell you about it.
“He’s tough,” Daboll said. “We have a lot of tough players on this team.”
It has been a joy to watch through five games, and Jones has been an equally enjoyable case study. Schoen and Daboll may not have drafted him. But more games like this, they may well wish to adopt him. It might not be a terrible choice.




