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Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber is no stranger to playing in the biggest media market in the United States.
Barber starred for the Giants for 10 seasons (1997 through 2006) and helped lead New York to a Super Bowl appearance at the conclusion of the 2000 season. The former three-time Pro Bowl running back was a rarity in that he had his best years towards the end of his career, clinching all three of his Pro Bowl nods during the final years of his career. He most notably racked up 2,390 all-purpose yards during the 2005 season — the second-highest single-season total to that point — and finished fourth in MVP voting.
The 49-year-old is well in tune with what Giants faithful is thinking as he currently works as a radio host at WFAN in New York. While speaking to ClutchPoints in a one-on-one interview — while speaking on behalf of IBM's new roster management tools in ESPN fantasy football leagues — Barber addressed the big topic surrounding the Giants in quarterback Daniel Jones.
While Jones bounced back in Week 2 to have a solid performance in a 21-18 loss against the Washington Commanders — 178 passing yards, two touchdowns and zero turnovers — he's still just 1-7 since signing his four-year, $160 million contract during the 2023 offseason. Barber defended the 27-year-old quarterback, saying he “works his butt off.”
“I really feel for him, because he's such a great kid and he works his butt off,” says Barber of Jones. “He truly is one of their leaders. It's not just because he's a quarterback, it's because of the work that he puts in. Week 1 was a rough one (against the Vikings). It felt like a preseason game to be honest with you and he's still recovering from this ACL injury. He hadn't played in a real game other than a couple of series in the preseason. So Week 1 was to be expected. Week 2 you needed to see improvement — I think we did see that.”
There's little doubt that Jones' play saw a major improvement compared to his Week 1 debacle. Jones was roundly booed and criticized in the Giants' home opener after throwing two interceptions in the red zone that led to New York losing to Minnesota, 28-6. However, he bounced back in Week 2 to lead three touchdown drives against the Commanders. If it wasn't for the team losing their kicker Graham Gano to injury, one could argue they would have likely won the game.
One of the major differences in Jones' play in Week 2 compared to Week 1 is how he focused on targeting first-round rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers. Of Jones' 28 pass attempts, 18 of them were thrown to Nabers. That resulted in the Giants moving the football, along with Nabers making history as the youngest receiver in NFL history to record a 10-reception, 127-yard, one-touchdown game.
“A lot of it was because he targeted Malik so much and the Commanders ran a lot of single highs, so there were man looks,” says Barber of Jones' success in Week 2. “Malik was just winning in these man-to-man looks and Daniel Jones continually found him.”
Barber doubles down on why he feels for Jones considering all of the turmoil he's been through as he plays his sixth season in the NFL. Barber points towards how Jones is on his third head coach, how he had to replace a legend in two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning and how he “constantly” has to prove himself, especially after signing the big contract after the 2022 season.
“He's constantly had to prove himself and now he's doing it again, trying to prove that he can come back and be healthy off an ACL injury,” says Barber. “There's a lot of pressure. He takes it very calmly, like he doesn't seem flustered by it. But you know that it's got to be somewhere in his mind that everybody is critically looking at him.”
The pressure won't stop mounting as the Jones-led Giants hope to avoid a 0-3 start when they face the Cleveland Browns in a tough road game in Week 3.
