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New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was closer to deposed offensive coordinator Jason Garrett than any other Giants player.
Jones and Garrett worked side by side for hours each day. They often played catch after practice, many times turning that into a competition.
Jones, thus, feels Garrett’s Tuesday firing more directly than anyone else on the roster.
“It (Garrett’s firing) certainly affects all of us,” Jones said on Wednesday. “I think he was a big part of what we were doing on offense and obviously leadership there, so I’ll miss him. We’ll certainly miss him, and he did a lot for us. We’ve got to keep moving forward and get ready to play the Eagles this week.”
Garrett was fired after the Giants scored only 10 points on Monday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with Jones throwing a pair of interceptions and the offense often looking dysfunctional.
Jones admitted it was difficult knowing that the performance of the players was at least in part responsible for Garrett being out of a job.
“That’s obviously a big part of how we all feel right now,” Jones said. “I think if you don’t feel like that, there’s an issue and we all take responsibility in our lack of production. I certainly do. That’s what makes it tough. Like I said, it’s on all of us to perform better and to produce more.”
The Giants average just 18.9 points per game, 25th in the NFL.
Jones had indicated after Monday’s loss that the responsibility for playing better offense falls to the players. He repeated that stance on Wednesday.
“I think I still feel that. I feel responsibility for our lack of production as an offense. I feel that. I think we all should feel that, and I don’t think that’s changed today. I still feel like that,” he said. “Coach Judge is going to make the decisions as the head coach, that’s his job, but I don’t think that should change how we feel about how we’ve played, the points we’ve scored, how we’ve done at times. I think we know we’ve got to do better. That falls on each one of us, on players and certainly me.”
Jones said he did not anticipate drastic offensive changes.
“No, I don’t think so. I think it’ll be our system and our verbiage,” he said. “I think there will be different aspects to it, but we’ll go through the week, find what works, what we like going into Sunday. We’ll see how that progresses.”
Jones credited Garrett with helping him over the past two seasons.
“I think from a communication aspect, a game plan aspect going in, how we planned on the field, and then off the field there was a lot of communication in terms of approaching a game and the mindset to play, and leading an offense that he certainly helped me with,” Jones said.” It’s about moving forward now, understanding that we’ve got to keep going and it’s on all of us to perform better at each of our jobs. We all have to play better and produce more.”
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