All eyes are once again on Daniel Jones as the Giants starting quarterback.
On Monday, Jones arrived for the first day of the team’s offseason program. The neck injury that ended his season prematurely is no longer an issue, according to Jones himself.
“No, I’m feeling good, and ready to go,” Jones told reporters.
Feeling good? That’s good to know. Ready to go? Okay, we’ll see.
For this portion of the offseason program, there’s no live-contact on-field activities permitted. Therefore, while waiting to see when the Giants clear Jones, we’ll have to take his word that he’s indeed ready to play.
With a new general manager and head coach watching closely, Jones will get at least one more opportunity to show he’s the team’s long-term answer at quarterback.
“I’m excited. I’m excited to get going here. I appreciate the support,” he said. “But it’s my job to do my role, to prepare this team, to prepare myself to play as well as I can and put this team in position to win games.
“I take full responsibility for how I played. We haven’t won enough games. We haven’t scored enough points. We haven’t done things well enough. . . You play a big role in those things. That is what I’m focused on. I’m working on improving and making sure myself as well as the offense and team is ready to go daily.”
If the best ability is availability, Jones has fallen short of meeting the requirements. He needs to produce more, however, he must stay on the field and avoid the injury bug which has plagued his young career.
Meanwhile, for Jones and the Giants, there’s an important date on the calendar quickly approaching.
New York will need to determine by May 2 whether it wants to pick up Jones’ fifth-year option.
Have the Giants seen enough of Jones to commit $22 million? Or will they decline the option and have Jones prove 2022 he’s for real and earn a new long-term deal?
“I think those things will, there’ll be a time and place for those conversations,” Jones said, “so we’ll see and we’ll take care of that, we’ll do that when it come up, but I’m focused on what we’re doing here, preparing and taking advantage of every day we have here together.”
