Daniel Jones looked out of sorts in the New York Giants’ season opener, his first game back from ACL surgery. One of his two interceptions was a pick-6, and home fans showered him with boos.
It could not have gone much worse. He also could not have picked a better opponent to bounce back against.
Jones and the Giants visit the Commanders, also 0-1 with major questions on defense and a history of struggling against New York’s much-maligned quarterback. Jones has dominated Washington his entire NFL career, and Sunday is the next chance for “Danny Dimes” to get his mojo back.
“Everybody here is rallying around Daniel,” left guard Jon Runyan said. “He’s in there, he’s grinding. He’s in the weight room, and he’s going get this thing right. I know it, and I think we all trust and believe that he will.”
Jones has beaten Washington, with three different team names, since getting drafted sixth in 2019. He’s 5-1-1 with 11 touchdowns (10 passing), three interceptions, 1,510 yards in the air and 324 more on the ground.
Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner brushed that off because he was not around for any of those games, and he is one of six new starters on defense. But that doesn’t mean he and his teammates are underestimating Jones after a brutal Week 1 performance.
“He does a really good job using his feet, creating plays,” Wagner said. “That’s what makes it hard. I think when he has time, he makes really good throws, and so our job is to not give him time. When you let him get some time and use his legs, he can be dangerous.”
Dan Quinn, who coached against Jones plenty as the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive coordinator the past three years, said the 27-year-old’s ability to extend plays beyond the normal 2.3-second throwing window is also a factor.
“He’s got speed and athleticism,” Quinn said. “He remains a runner, where some QBs would go and get down or get out bounds. So, he remains in that space and really has confidence in his running ability, which he should.”
Confidence, eh? Retired QB Ryan Fitzpatrick said he thinks Jones’ confidence is “at an all-time low,” which is especially difficult in the New York market, where he played for the Jets in two of his 15 pro seasons.
“Your confidence is shaken, and you don’t play well,” said Fitzpatrick, who’s now an analyst for Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football” broadcasts. “He’s not playing well. He knows he’s not playing well.”
Jones, for his part, said his “mental toughness is in a good spot.”
“I’m not concerned about that,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been doubted plenty for a long time and dealt with that time and time again and done a good job with it.”
The doubting continues. Fitzpatrick’s Amazon teammate and three-time All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman said he tries not to be overly critical of players in this role.
“You know how tough it is to be criticized when you’re in a slump,” Sherman said. “Except Daniel Jones. It’s tough not to criticize Daniel Jones.”
The other QB
Washington rookie Jayden Daniels had a respectable NFL debut, completing 17 of 24 passes for 184 yards and rushing for 88 yards. Quinn would like to see Daniels cut down on the runs from 16 at Tampa Bay, but that — like a lot of things — will come with experience, and the No. 2 pick out of LSU has bought into his first few games being a learning experience.
“I could grow in every aspect of my game,” Daniels said. “You watch the tape (and realize) it’s never as good as you thought it was, it’s never as bad as you thought it was, so you just move on.”
Manageable situations
There was a reason the Giants scored a league-low six points in the season opener. They didn’t play well on first down and hurt their chances of maintaining drives by losing 39 yards because of penalties.
Three of their five first-half drives featured second- and third-down plays of more than 13 yards. The longest of their 11 first-down plays in the first half was 7 yards. Most were 4 or less.
There was some improvement in the second half, but by that time the Vikings led 28-6.
“There’s really no offense that’s going to work if you can’t get any yards on first down and you’re sitting in second and long,” Giants guard Jon Runyan Jr. said. “The playbook shrinks to really, really small and you don’t have many options.”
Washington’s defensive problem
The Commanders got carved up by Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers in Week 1, allowing 392 yards and 37 points. That is not sustainable, and they know it.
“A lot of guys are feeling like we didn’t perform the way we wanted to perform,” Wagner said. “Just want to communicate better, want to be flying around, make more plays and just get off the field.”
Giants pressure
The question mark for the Giants’ defense has been its young secondary. New York lost safety Xavier McKinney to Green Bay in free agency and didn’t re-sign cornerback Adoree’ Jackson until just before the season opener. It left Jason Pinnock, Dane Belton and rookie Tyler Nubin at safety and Cor’Dale Flott, Deonte Banks and rookie Dru Phillips at cornerback.
The hope was the combination of defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and edge rushers Kayvon Thibodeaux and Brian Burns would pressure opposing quarterbacks and help the secondary. It didn’t happen against Minnesota, as Lawrence had the team’s only sack, Thibodeaux had a pressure and no tackles and Burns had four tackles and nothing else. They need to be better.
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AP Sports Writer Tom Canavan in East Rutherford, New Jersey, contributed to this report.
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