New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones waited over nine months to return to the gridiron in live game action, determined to put an ugly season-ending ACL injury–and an ugly 2023 season–behind him.
He accomplished the first part of that objective, looking no worse for the wear and moving with no limitations during his turn in the first half of the Giants' 28-10 preseason loss to the Houston Texans.
As for the second part? Let’s just say he picked up where he left off last year–and not in a good way.
Jones, looking to quiet his critics once and for all, was inconsistent in his 2024 debut. He finished 11-of-18 for 138 yards on the night but also threw two interceptions and narrowly missed a third one, all of which came in the first quarter of play.
Some of the mechanical stuff could be attributed to rust, while some was just a continuation of what has plagued Jones, who is entering his sixth season, and that is post-snap decision-making.
“Knee felt good. Felt really good and excited to be out there,” Jones said after the game. “Didn't start perfect, but we got going, and I felt good.”
Besides the two interceptions, one of which was a clear panic throw in which Jones, who otherwise had solid pass protection for a change, tried to force a ball to rookie tight end Theo Johnson, who was blanketed by the time Jones decided to attempt the pass.
The ball was picked off by Texans defender Jalen Pitre and returned five yards for a Pick-6, breaking the scoreless deadlock.
“Just left the ball inside on a bad throw,” Jones said on that pick. “Got to miss outside in that situation and throw it down the field.”
Head coach Brian Daboll was a bit more direct, calling the throw a “bad decision.”
“We had a play-action pass, called a little bit of time. He [Daniel Jones] moved to the left and made a poor decision, backed up,” he said.
Jones’ second interception came on a deep ball intended for second-year receiver Jalen Hyatt, the ball picked off by cornerback Derek Stingley, Jr. deep in Texans territory.
While a case could be made that Hyatt should have fought more for the ball, Jones’s pass still semed ill-advised given how blanketed the receiver was by the defender.
Jones finished the first quarter 2-of-6 for 18 yards and two interceptions, a 2.8 passer rating. While he steadied his ship in the second quarter to finish 11-of-18 for 138 yards (45.4 passer rating), there were still some other issues, such as his deep pass to Darius Slayton, who was stopped one yard short of payday, given that the ball was slightly late in getting to the receiver, causing him to slow down his route.
It wasn’t all gloom and doom. Jones connected with Wan’Dale Robinson over the middle on what looked like his third read on the play, and then he would hit first-round Malik Nabers on four of six pass targets, including a leaping sideline catch by the receiver on which he got both feet down in bounds.
Daboll, who has taken over as the team’s play-caller, downplayed Jones’s inconsistencies.
“That's what these games are for,” he said. “I wanted to make sure we had enough plays where we were throwing it down the field, giving opportunities to throw it down the field.
“Again, there were some good things, good to get him out here, and then there are a couple of things we'll learn from, and that's what these things are for.”
