In the eyes of many members of the NFL community, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones had a disastrous return to in-game action coming off an ACL tear when he tossed two interceptions in Saturday's 28-10 preseason loss at the Houston Texans.
Specifically, Jones produced arguably the lowlight of the NFL weekend when he held onto the ball for too long, nearly took a safety and then gifted the Texans with a pick-six in the contest's first quarter.
That moment raised alarms for former NFL signal-caller and current analyst Dan Orlovsky.
"Anyone who has heard me ever talk about Daniel, that is the sticking point for me," Orlovsky said on ESPN's "Get Up" program, as shared by Joey Chandler of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. "In those moments of panic with the ball, what you do with that decision is really the determining factor on, like, are you going to be good, really good, great or subpar. And the Giants, the one season that Daniel Jones played really good football was two years ago and that is the one thing he got rid of. That right there has to be concerning to (head coach) Brian Daboll."
Jones ultimately settled down after Houston’s starting defensive players exited the game, and he completed 11-of-18 passes for 138 yards with no touchdowns and the two picks. He also rushed for 12 yards on a single carry.
Retired quarterback and one-time NFL Most Valuable Player Boomer Esiason liked some of what he saw from Jones on Saturday.
"People don’t understand," Esiason said during the WFAN "Boomer and Gio" show on Monday, per Ryan Chichester of Audacy. "He is coming off of a serious knee injury. He’s ahead of schedule. ...In the second quarter, and especially late in the second quarter, you saw the back shoulder throws. You saw the aggressive, down-the-field throws. You saw him start to settle in. He also made a great throw to Jalin Hyatt, and, unfortunately, Jalin wasn’t able to keep the feet in bounds."
Multiple Giants teammates voiced their support of Jones ahead of the Houston contest, and there's currently no sign that either primary backup Drew Lock or QB3 Tommy DeVito is close to replacing Jones atop the depth chart. With that said, Daboll and Giants general manager Joe Schoen could have millions of reasons to sit a healthy Jones if the club has a losing record when its Week 11 bye arrives.
Jones missed time last season with his second neck injury in three years before he went down with the torn ACL. Across six starts, he threw two touchdown passes and six interceptions.
If Saturday's performance proves to be a preview of what's to come for the 2024 Giants, Schoen likely will part ways with Jones in March 2025.
