The New York Giants are celebrating their 100th season this year. From bringing back the team's original jersey, un-retiring a jersey number for their rookie receiver and building up their defense, Giants fans looked like they were in for a treat this year.
That was until the Giants played a game.
The Giants kicked off the 2024 season at home against a heavily injured Minnesota Vikings, but in true Giants fashion the team collapsed. Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold threw for 208 yards and two touchdowns, running back Aaron Jones rushed for 94 yards and a TD and star receiver Justin Jefferson racked up 59 yards and a TD, while the Vikings' defense recorded five sacks and two interceptions, including a big pick 6 to put the final nail in the coffin and en route to a 28-6 win.
Inevitably, fans dumped the blame on quarterback Daniel Jones, who finished the game with 186 passing yards on 22 of 42 passing and two interceptions. In fact, fans were spotted leaving with four minutes still left in the third quarter, while others intentionally stayed behind just so they could heckle Jones with some trash talk as he left MetLife Stadium.
Following practice on Sep. 11, Jones was asked about the loss, the fans' reaction and the shape of his mental toughness following an ugly loss.
As for the fans' reactions, Jones said he's not offended. In a pure classy move, Jones instead admitted, "I know I've got to play better, we all got to play better."
Jones was also asked if he felt like his play would determine his job security, to which Jones replied, "I'm playing to win games. I'm playing to lead the team to score points and win games, that's always been my focus and I am confident I can do that, I just have to do it and do it well."
Right after the Week 1 loss and during the post-game press conference, head coach Brian Daboll was asked about Jones' future as QB1 for the Giants. Daboll quickly shot that notion down and reiterated that benching Jones never crossed his mind.
Daboll wasn't Jones' only supporter. Wide receiver Jailn Hyatt noted, "We all have full belief and faith in DJ, I'm not worried about him at all. It's one week, we all forget that he's coming off of an ACL injury, so it's his first time in action, but we know he'll get better and we'll get better for him."
With the odds stacking up early -- a mass exodus of fans, a Jones jersey being set on fire in the parking lot, trash talk and fans calling for his job -- reporters wanted to know about Jones' mental toughness amid the ordeal.
"I've been doubted plenty for a long time, and I've dealt with that time and time again and done a good job with it," Jones answered.
Jones and the Giants are looking for a bounce-back win this upcoming Sunday against their division rival Washington Commanders.
