Soon, it will be Eli Manning’s time to turn back the clock. To try to make something out of what will likely be his last season in blue. To hold off the team’s future for as long as he can.
But not yet. The summer isn’t over, and so it’s not time for Daniel Jones to fade into the background and cede the spotlight. That time is coming. But Jones — the sixth overall pick in April’s draft out of Duke, the story of this training camp and the future face of the franchise — has one more game left to continue to wow fans and impress teammates and coaches.
For the first time in his brief career, Jones will get an NFL start, in the preseason finale at New England on Thursday night. Who said the last game before the real games begin doesn’t matter?
“I think it’s important that he goes in and executes well. For the amount of time that he’s in there, it’ll be good to be on the road, like we were last week against the Bengals,” coach Pat Shurmur said. “There’s a lot to be learned going through how we do the cadence and whatnot. But just steady progress like he’s really been doing here for all of camp [is what I want to see].”
Jones has come far in a short period, quickly changing the narrative. It wasn’t so long ago the pick was shredded as a reach by general manager Dave Gettleman, a mistake that would eventually cost him his job.
But this summer, Jones has impressed even the pessimists, flashing a big arm and the poise to match. When Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield ripped him in a GQ article, he handled it like a veteran, shaking off the slight like he was swatting away a fly. On the field, he’s surpassed expectations. He’s thrived in all three preseason games, completing 25 of 30 passes for 269 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.
“At this point, I feel like I have improved and have made steps in the right direction,” Jones said. “There is a lot to work on, but my job is to be prepared and I trust the plan. … I think I’ve done some good things and I’ve done some bad things.
“More than anything, I have made progress, I feel like, and that’s encouraging to me. When I look to where I was at rookie minicamp and OTAs, I think I’ve improved a good bit since then.”
He was impressive again in practice Monday, showing off that big right arm with precision passes. He hit eight of his first nine attempts, and the one incompletion was a Bennie Fowler III drop. The low point came late in practice, when under pressure Jones hurried a throw and was picked off by Ronald Zamort on an underneath pattern. Even then, he turned a negative into a positive. Not giving up on the play, Jones stripped Zamort.
“That’s the reaction of a good football player,” Shurmur said. “Now we obviously don’t want him to get hurt, but yeah, he was trying to get the ball out, which I think he did, didn’t he? … So, that would have been a really good play.”
Even the Giants’ defensive players have noticed how far Jones has come.
“You can see his growth and how much more comfortable he’s gotten over the course of the offseason and into the preseason games,” linebacker Alec Ogletree said. “He seems a lot more comfortable. He’s not as overwhelmed as most rookies would be. Just looking at him, you can tell he seems a bit more comfortable in the offense and understanding the ins and out.”
The Giants will get another look at Jones on Thursday night. After that, it remains to be seen how long it will be until they see him in the huddle again.