Even before Daniel Jones made a few throws on the Giants’ practice field on Wednesday, head coach Brian Daboll had declared that his starting quarterback’s 2023 season is “not over.”

Daboll’s banged-up team, at 1-5, is perilously close to that DOA designation anyway, of course, especially with Jones still waiting to be cleared for contact after missing last week’s loss to the Bills due to a neck injury.

As it is, only three teams since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 have qualified for the playoffs after opening the year by losing five of their first six games: the 1970 Bengals, the 2015 Chiefs and the 2018 Colts. And only the most recent of that trio won a postseason game.

Another loss this week to the Commanders — with the improving Jets on deck in Week 8 following their bye week — would leave the Giants facing the rest of the season to evaluate whether Jones remains their franchise cornerstone at quarterback or whether they might end up in position to start over at the position within a top-heavy draft featuring USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye.