Getty Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is set to make his preseason debut against the Patriots this weekend.
The wait is finally over. That’s right, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is expected to make his preseason debut against the New England Patriots on Sunday.
According to head coach Joe Judge, Jones will play at least the whole first half, before they make a decision later this week of whether he will go beyond halftime or not.
“This week we’ll treat more as the dress rehearsal for the regular season,” Judge told reporters on Monday. “My expectations at this point would be for Daniel to play at least the first half and decide what we do coming out of halftime later in the week.”
As expected, Jones sat out of the Giants’ preseason opener against the Jets, however, it came as more of a surprise when he did not play in their Week 2 matchup with the Cleveland Browns.
But as Judge went onto reveal, the move to sit Jones in the second game was due to the positive signs that the third-year quarterback showed in joint practices last week.
“That truly came down to what we thought we accomplished in practice, with both the volume and intensity as a [starting] unit,” Judge said. “We initially thought about playing those guys for about a quarter or so. We made the decision based on what they had gone through from a physical load standpoint and intensity [during joint practices with the Browns].”
Now, Jones will get to show the world what he is in made of in the Giants’ preseason finale, as he heads into his second season in Jason Garrett’s system.
Make-or-Break Year?
The 2021 season will most likely provide the Giants with more clarity, as to whether Daniel Jones is their franchise quarterback of the future or not. And that is why this year is a make-or-break season for Jones.
The 2019 first-round pick showed promise in his rookie season under former head coach Pat Shurmur, but had a disappointing sophomore campaign playing in Garrett’s offense. Jones also dealt with a hamstring strain, which forced him to miss two games and hindered his mobility down the stretch of the season.
Jones has gone 8-18 as a starter in the NFL, while throwing for 35 touchdowns. Albeit, he has 22 interceptions and 29 fumbles in 27 career games.
But to be fair, Jones has not been surrounded with much talent in his young NFL career, and has only played in 15 games with his star running back Saquon Barkley.
Luckily, the Giants went out and beefed up on skill players during the offseason, giving Jones a vast assortment of weapons to utilize on offense including: Kenny Golladay, Kyle Rudolph and first-round pick Kadarius Toney, who will join Barkley, Darius Slayton, Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram on what should be a much-improved unit.
Barkley’s Status TBD
Speaking of Barkley, as the fourth-year running back continues to make his way back from a torn ACL and MCL, Judge was asked if there was any chance of him seeing action in the Giants’ preseason finale this weekend.
“I’d say that’s not decided yet,” Judge explained to reporters. “We’re going to talk with the medical team. The priority will be to continue ramping him up and doing more and more.”
Whether Barkley plays in the Giants’ final exhibition matchup or not, he has been showing signs of progress each week in practice since being activated off the PUP list.
And at this point, his status for Week 1 of the regular season is starting to look more likely.
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