Leaders lead, and it appears New York Giants QB Daniel Jones is stepping up as a leader for his team. Jones, who is entering his second year in the NFL, is now the man for New York.
Before the Giants played their intrasquad scrimmage on Friday night at MetLife Stadium, Jones led the team huddle, which is something he did not do last season.
“It was just an opportunity to get the guys together,” Jones said about breaking the team down after the scrimmage on Friday night. “Getting everybody fired up and ready to go. It was the first opportunity to be here in the stadium. We had uniforms on and the simulation of a game, so I think guys were excited and just wanted to kind of continue that excitement and add to it if I could. But I think guys were focused; guys were locked in. It was fun to get back out there on the field.
According to Giants head coach Joe Judge, Jones has been a leader for the Giants so far this offseason.
“Look, we’ve had a number of guys break the team down,” Judge said. “We have different guys break them down every day. But if you’re asking about Daniel’s leadership, he’s definitely a guy who’s taken a leadership role on this team. That’s been evident with the way he comes to work every day, the way he holds himself and the way he practices and prepares, and then the way he performs when he gets into competitive situations. In terms of him calling up, I don’t know if it’s new to somebody else to see. For us, it’s no surprise. He’s in a position where he’s in front of the team on a daily basis. For us, it’s just business as usual.”
On Friday, Jones unofficially completed eight of 11 passes for 88 yards, but as a whole, he was happy with his team’s offensive performance.
“Overall, as a group, as an offense, we did some good things and moved the ball at times,” he said. “I don’t think we were consistent enough through the course of the scrimmage, and we left some plays out there. I certainly did, and need to look at a few things. Like I said, overall, we did some good things and some encouraging things. But I think in any situation like this, there are going to be things that you have to clean up; there are going to be things we’ll work on and look to improve here going forward.”
For the Giants, seeing Jones become a leader has to be exciting. In reality, if he plays well this season, players will most definitely be willing to follow his lead.
Photo/courtesy: Giants.com
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