The New York Giants made the move to release quarterback Daniel Jones, and in the days leading up, he recited a written speech, which was essentially a farewell and thank you to the organization, while owning up to his performance that was not up to standards. ESPN's Elle Duncan got criticism for a segment she had on Sports Center critiquing not just Jones' play, but his speech.

“You guys think he had this saved in his notes since like 2020? In all seriousness, DJ, I could have saved you like 90 seconds,” Elle Duncan said in her segment. “A rewrite: I'm sorry you paid me $108 million for one playoff win. And I look forward to reviving my career as Brock Purdy's backup. The end.”

This segment caused Vice President of Communications for the Giants, Pat Hanlon, to take to X, formerly known as Twitter, and come to the defense of the former New York quarterback.

“That an #ESPN personality would mock Daniel Jones' statement today is mind boggling. Given what has happened at that company over past few years, tone deaf,” Hanlon wrote.

Giants owner John Mara, along with Jones' teammates, have publicly stated the respect they have for him due to the work he put in. The results just were not there. However, the clashing between the Giants and ESPN did not stop there, as Stephen A. Smith weighed in, even though he seemingly had a very key detail wrong.

Stephen A. Smith roasts Giants for response to Elle Duncan's segment

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On First Take the next day, Stephen A. Smith sat with Duncan and came to her defense, claiming that the Giants had been calling ESPN offices regarding the segment.

“The New York Giants, respectfully, shut the hell up,” Stephen A. Smith said. “Y'all are awful as an organization. You won a Super Bowl in 2007, you won a Super Bowl in 2011, outside of that, since 2011, that's 13 years, the Giants have made the playoffs twice. They've on one playoff game. … And you've got the nerve to sit up there and call the offices and complain to executives about somebody that went on ational television to do their job. Why don't you do your damn job as an organization?”

However, outside of Pat Hanlon's comments on X, no one from the team reached out to ESPN offices or executives, according to Jared Schwartz of the New York Post.

It will be interesting to see if Smith, Duncan or anyone from ESPN comes out to refute that claim. For now, the Giants will look to get their third win of the season and the first of the post-Daniel Jones era on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.