Daniel Jones has plenty to work on, the New York Giants will admit, but confidence is not on that list.
After one-time teammate Kyle Rudolph said in an interview that Jones' confidence "looks completely destroyed" following a disastrous Week 1 showing, New York offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said his quarterback's self-belief is not in question.
"I'll say I haven't heard those references that you're talking about, but I haven't seen from my position, I haven't seen that in the meeting room, on the field," Kafka told reporters Thursday. "And again, it's an 11-man operation on offense. It's never just about one person. So, all 11 guys have to play as one. And today is a great day to get that fixed and worked out."
That, however, was part of Rudolph's point when asked about the Giants' 28-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on "Up & Adams." Rudolph played 10 seasons as a tight end in Minnesota before spending 2021 with the Giants. He pointed toward the Giants' offensive line.
"The Daniel Jones that I saw on Sunday in that game is not the Daniel Jones that I watched take them to the divisional round of the playoffs (in 2022)," Rudolph said. "It's not the guy that I played with when I was there for a year. His confidence looks completely destroyed, and how can you blame him? Every time he goes out there, he's fighting for his life. And I've said this multiple times when I've talked about D.J. -- can we possibly protect him?"
Jones completed 22 of 42 passes for 186 yards (4.4 yards per attempt), threw two interceptions and took five sacks in the Giants' loss to the visiting Vikings in Week 1. Giants fans were booing the offense as soon as the first drive of the game.
Kafka, in his third year with the Giants, is a former backup quarterback himself and said dealing with others' opinions is part of the job.
"It's kind of your role in having to handle that kind of stuff," Kafka said. "So, he's done it better than I've probably seen anyone else do it, especially handling some of the things he's had to go through with injuries and things like that. So, I'm proud of him for that. But Daniel's a tough kid. He handles it like a pro. He always has. He handles it like a pro in the meeting room. And I don't think his confidence has ever wavered since I've been here."
As for the more tangible areas needing improvement, Kafka said he and Jones talk about being more decisive "on the daily," with moving faster through his progressions part of a constant work in progress.
"Whether you're in your first year, your sixth year, your 10th year, your 15th year, you're always working on the fundamentals, and you've got to go back to that," Kafka said. "So that's what you rely on. That's what we work on in the off season. We work on through training camp, all those little fundamentals. And so, once something goes wrong, that's how you problem-solve it."
Jones himself has also mentioned correcting his footwork, and Kafka said they would be working on that in Thursday's practice, with the Giants' Week 2 visit to the Washington Commanders on the horizon.
"I won't say one specific thing (about Jones' footwork), but it's kind of the accumulation of all the things and all the different schemes that we have in the run action game," Kafka said. "When you're turning around, you're play action faking to the back, turning your back to the defense. Now you got to flip back around and find your movement key. Now there's a little bit of pressure. You got to slide, you got to push up."
Jones signed a four-year, $160 million contract after taking the Giants to the divisional round of the 2022 playoffs. He has been largely ineffective ever since, though much of the 2023 season was lost to an ACL injury.
