Giants certainly sound committed to Daniel Jones

New York Giants coach Joe Judge did not make an outright commitment to Daniel Jones as the team’s 2021 starting quarterback on Wednesday. He did, though, come pretty close.

“I don’t know if there an ‘ah ha’ moment ... to me it’s a string of moments,” Judge said during hsi Wednesday videoconference. “Watching Daniel work, watching the respect he has in the locker room, watching him improve throughout this season. I think he’s demonstrated a level of toughness and leadership and knowledge on the field that gives us confidence to put him out there and build with Daniel.”

Jones has thrown only 8 touchdown passes this season while being intercepted nine times. As a rookie, he threw 24 touchdown passes to 12 interceptions. The Giants are 31st in the league in scoring at 17.4 points per game.

Those things, and the fact that Jones has missed games because of injury in each of his first two NFL seasons, have some wondering if the Giants would be back in the quarterback market in the upcoming draft. The Giants currently have the 10th overall pick.

By saying “build with Daniel” Judge certainly made it seem as though he expects Jones to be the quarterback going forward.

“This guys’s definitely earned my respect. I kinda made it very hard on him right from the beginning in a lot of ways. He hasn’t blinked,” Judge said. “Daniel Jones is our quarterback.”

Judge obviously appreciated the support.

“I’ve learned a ton from Coach Judge and enjoyed working with him. My job is to earn it every day, and that’s the approach that you have to take in this league,” Jones said. Come in every single day, earn your job, work hard, do what you’re asked to do, improve as a player every day, and that’s what I’m focused on.”

The second-year quarterback admitted he has had to learn not to force plays that weren’t there.

“I think I’ve learned a lot. Throughout this year, we’ve played in a lot of tight games. We haven’t finished some and found ways to win some of them also. You look at those games, in the games we’ve won, we’ve protected the ball better,” Jones said. “I think at times, particularly early in the year, I felt like I was pressing to make a play when it wasn’t there. Learning when it’s not there, when the best decision is to protect the ball and make sure you’re controlling that. I’ve learned a lot through certain situations and situations we’ve played in in different games.”

Will he play Sunday?

Will Jones play Sunday? He has missed two of the last three games, first with a hamstring injury and then an additional ankle injury.

“We’re going to throw him through practice today and tomorrow and see where he’s at,” Judge said. “In a perfect world I’d love to have an answer as soon as possible. I’m not going to go ahead and set a time mark on this, but we’ll come out of Friday after practice with some kind of an answer.”