New York Giants: 3 takeaways from Week 6 loss to Pats
By Ed Stein
2. It’s a process
No one expects rookie quarterback Daniel Jones to be an All-Pro four games into his NFL career. What New York Giants fans do expect is progress. Even though the stats don’t reveal it, the “eye test” shows that Jones is becoming more comfortable in the pocket. Additionally, he is starting to learn how to do more, with less at the professional level.
Jones didn’t have a great game. He completed only 15 of 31 passing attempts for 161 yards, one touchdown, and three picks. To me, he looked like he trusted himself more this week, by throwing into tight windows. Jones believes he can complete those passes and the stats do back that up. FOX put up a graphic in the fourth quarter that showed he completed six of nine tight window passes.
It’s not his fault that the talent around him is substandard. Let face it Jon Hilliman, Darius Slayton, and Rhett Ellison are not Saquon Barkley, Sterling Shepard, and Evan Engram. That isn’t an excuse, its a fact. A quarterback can only do so much by himself, someone else has to make plays on offense as well. The scoring pass to Golden Tate was a perfect example. Tate found space behind New England’s secondary and Jones hit him in stride with a perfect pass.
Thursday was a graduate-level course in playing against a top defense. Of Jones’ three interceptions, only one was a clean pick. The first two interceptions came off of “deflections.” Granted they could be deemed as ill-advised, but they were not a result of mental errors. This game was another step in Daniel Jones’ development. Big Blue Nation will see how much the rookie learned when the G-Men play Arizona on October 20.