New York Giants News

Giants news, 9/17: Daniel Jones marks anniversary of becoming Giants’ starter

Let’s get to your Thursday headlines

By Ed Valentine@Valentine_Ed Sep 17, 2020, 5:40am EDT

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Daniel Jones on aggression, good decisions

While vociferously defending Daniel Jones on Wednesday, coach Joe Judge talked about a quarterback’s need to be aggressive while making good decisions. Jones was later asked about that balance.

“At this level, you must be able to do that. You must be able to play aggressive and take care of the football. That’s the job and the expectation. Continuing to understand what the defense is doing to take what they give you, and when the look’s not there, get rid of the ball or find a back or do something to get it out of your hands,” Jones said. “Just continuing to work on that. At this level, you’re expected to be able to do both, and that’s something I certainly expect of myself.”

The one time he failed to do that on Monday against the Pittsburgh Steelers resulted in a critical goal-line interception that ended a 19-play drive. Jones said he was trying to throw the ball away, but made that choice too late.

“The second interception was a situation where I just needed to get the ball out of my hands sooner,” Jones said. “Ultimately, I was trying to throw it away, but I needed to make that decision sooner.”

Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of Jones being named the team’s starting quarterback. What has he learned in that time?

“Certainly, a lot. I’ve learned a lot on the field playing football, scheme, understanding the game, a lot in how to prepare and get ready to play, and I think a lot of stuff in between,” he said. “Ultimately, the importance of learning, the importance of improving every day, the importance of not repeating mistakes, continuing to build and constantly grow as a player, as a member of the team. I think that’s ultimately what’s most important, and I’ve certainly realized that in the last year. Most players know that. I think it’s extremely important at this level.”

Darius Slayton on playing without fans

When Darius Slayton scored on a 41-yard touchdown Monday night MetLife Stadium would usually have erupted. Instead, without fans there was a silence Slayton termed “weird.”

“It was pretty quiet. It was really nothing going on in the stadium beyond us, so you could hear everything. It was a little weird scoring a touchdown and it was like crickets.”