It is going to be a battle for Daniel Jones, as far as building a future with the Giants beyond this season.
If Monday morning were any indication, Mr. Jones is going to stand in and take his swings.
He is going to fight for it.
That is a good thing. For the 27-year old quarterback. For an offense that is going to have to scrape to prove it is no longer an inept unit. For a team that is going to have to scratch and claw to win games and convince a legion of naysayers that they can amount to something this season.
There was Jones, failing to abide by the standard operating procedure adopted by most quarterbacks, getting in the middle of a fracas in the second team period of a feisty and overheated joint practice with the Lions at the Giants’ training camp facility. After a running play to Devin Singletary, veteran center Greg Van Roten was knocked to the ground and was prevented from getting up off the grass by Lions defensive lineman Kyle Peko. Guard Jon Runyan Jr. saw what was going down and moved in. Jones refused to back away, let the big guys duke it out. Jones stood tall and nailed Peko with a shove that was anything but playful.
Soon enough, quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney was on the field to usher Jones away.
“A situation happens like that, you try to stand up for your guys,” Jones said afterward.
Sure, Jones at 6-foot-5 and a muscular 230 pounds will never get sand kicked in his face on the beach. But he does hit the field in a red “non-contact’’ jersey — traditional quarterback garb — and that usually means the wearer steers clear when an altercation erupts.
“I don’t think it should,” Jones said. “He’s my teammate, and just like he would stick up for me, I’m going to stick up for him.”
It is easy to see why Jones, despite all that has gone wrong in his five years with the Giants, is so popular among his teammates. He is one of them. Newcomers quickly come to realize that the starting quarterback also happens to be the most dedicated player in the building.
“Man, that’s what it is,” Singletary, in his first summer with the Giants, said of Jones getting in the middle of a squabble. “You got to have your brother’s back out there, that’s what we’re all about.”
Another player new to the Giants, outside linebacker Brian Burns, was off on an adjacent field going against the Lions offense — there were plenty of fireworks over there, as well — when Jones entered the fray. He was surprised but not shocked.
“Oh, Lord. Daniel got jiggy with it,” Burns said. “Daniel was out there with it? Yeah. I’m going to need him to back up. Let his O-Line handle that. But Daniel, he’s a competitor, man. He’s a fighter. So, I don’t expect anything less from him. But I don’t need him in that. I don’t need him to get hit. Keep him healthy.”
By all accounts, Brian Daboll in a pre-practice team meeting hit a nerve and lit a fire, exhorting his players to come out and compete at a high level and not take anything from the Lions. Remember, these two teams held joint practices last year in Allen Park, Mich., and the Giants were completely dominated in the first session.
“He definitely brought the juice,” Singletary said. “You always can feel his energy but he was definitely juiced up.”
It was not a call to fight, but it was a call to arms.
“He just wants us to stick to what we are,” tight end Daniel Bellinger said. “He has this mantra of being a dawg. He wants us to go out there and be dawgs and compete like dawgs.”
It is no wonder a few coaches unveiled black T-shirts emblazoned with D.A.W.G. across the front.
Pushing and shoving and jawing is easy. Jones and the offense needed to show that the rebuilt line and the new weapons, featuring rookie Malik Nabers, could make plays against the Lions, a team that fell just short in 2023 of making the Super Bowl.
Jones on the first pass in the first 11-on-11 hit Darius Slayton on a crossing route. Jones found rookie tight end Theo Johnson for a substantial gain. A screen to Singletary was sharply executed. Nabers went at safety Ifeatu Melifonwu and hauled in a pass in the right corner of the end zone, but the official ruled Nabers’ left foot came down on the line. Nabers next beat cornerback Carlton Davis on the right sideline.
Daboll erupted when defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike hit Jones’ hand on a pass, causing the ball to flutter up into the air. Getting this close to the quarterback is frowned upon, and Daboll let the Lions player have it with an angry admonishment.
“I appreciate it,” Jones said of Daboll coming to his defense.
On the next play, Jones went at a Lions defensive lineman with a well-placed shove. The fight is on.
