Daniel Jones was back on the field for the New York Giants. That was good news as he returns from a torn ACL.
The results? Well, it’s a good thing it’s just the preseason.
Jones’ first pass probably should have been picked off by Houston Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr in Saturday’s game. On the Giants’ second series, Jones threw one of the worst interceptions you’ll see, preseason or regular season.
Jones was under pressure, about to take a sack and safety when he threw blindly to his left. It was an easy pick-6 for Texans safety Jalen Pitre.
On the next series, Jones threw deep and it was picked off by Stingley. Throwing two interceptions in a quarter, with another pass that could have been picked off, is not the results the Giants are looking for.
Again, it’s a good thing it doesn’t count.
Jones can be excused for being a little rusty. He’s working back from knee surgery and didn’t play in last week’s preseason game. But it’s also a crucial season for Jones. The Giants were attempting to move up in the NFL Draft, likely to draft Jones’ replacement. They didn’t add anyone other than Drew Lock, giving Jones a season to reestablish himself as the Giants’ quarterback of the future. Not that the preseason carries much weight in big-picture decisions, but seeing him get off to such a shaky start isn’t comforting.
There were some positive plays. He got rookie receiver Malik Nabers his first NFL preseason catch after two incompletions his way. Jones ran for 12 yards on a scramble, which was good to see given his knee injury last season. In the second quarter Jones had a great deep pass to Darius Slayton that gained 44 yards and set up a touchdown. It wasn’t all bad. It’s just that the interceptions will obscure any progress.
Jones goes into the season with a lot of pressure on him to play well. The Giants aren’t going to be great around him, though Nabers should help. For the Giants, they’ll erase the preseason and see what Jones does in a pivotal regular season. It can’t get much worse than Saturday’s performance.