New York Giants fans who were hoping to see an encouraging performance from quarterback Daniel Jones in his preseason debut vs the Houston Texans on Saturday afternoon did not have their wish granted. Jones threw two interceptions in his first NFL actions since tearing his ACL a year ago, and the Giants dropped to 1-1 in preseason action with the road defeat.
The performance is sure to ignite even more angst from a fanbase that has already vocalized its distrust in Jones dating back a few years now, but especially to the beginning of last year prior to his injury, when he and his teammates both stumbled out of the gates and failed to capitalize on their playoff run the year before.
On Saturday in Houston, Jones completed 11 of 18 pass attempts for 138 yards but threw two interceptions, one of which was returned by the Texans for a touchdown.
One person who is at least maintaining an exterior facade of calmness is Giants head coach Brian Daboll, per Jordan Raanan of ESPN on X, formerly Twitter.
“Two plays that we’d like to have back,” said Daboll of the two interceptions.
“He operated well in the pocket,” he added. “…First time out there after a long layoff, live ball, it was good for him.”
Daboll also gave his thoughts on the dreadful pick six.
“We’ll work on the (INT for TD). We’ll learn from it. We’ll grow from it. We’ll do better the next time,” said the Giants head coach.
An alarming performance
Daniel Jones is entering what many suspect to be a “prove it” season as the Giants quarterback following the disastrous performance he put up in the games he did appear in in 2023. Of course, a large part of that can be attributed to the team's ineptitude at the offensive line position, but that still likely won't stop the Giants' brass from exploring other options should Jones fail to perform once again this season.
New York invested heavily this offseason in helping their quarterback be the best version of himself, including drafting wide receiver Malik Nabers out of LSU with their first round draft pick this past April.
While few expect the Giants to be true contenders this season, there's certainly hope from the fanbase that they will at least improve upon their disastrous showing a year ago.
In any case, the Giants will open up the regular season in three weeks vs the Minnesota Vikings.