New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones returned after missing 11 games with a torn ACL in 2023, and unfortunately, he picked up where he left off.
The six-year veteran could have been better, and his team could have been better, as the Giants(0-1) fell to the Vikings (1-0) 28-6 in their season-opener at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Jones finished the game 22/42 with 186 yards and two bad interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Minnesota’s Andrew Van Ginkel. At that point, the Giants trailed 28-6 late in the third quarter, and at that point, the game was essentially over.
Obviously not the way we wanted to start,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said. “Disappointing game. A lot to clean up, and that’s what we will do.”
Jones, like Daboll, was disappointed with how things went against the Vikings.
“It’s certainly frustrating and disappointing to get the result today that we did,” Jones said. “I think for us, we’ve got to understand this is the first week, and there’s a lot of football to play, so we’ve got to clean it up. We’ve got to make some improvements fast and a lot of football to play, so that’s what we’re going to do.”
It’s Week 1, and starters don’t play much in the preseason, which could lead to struggles; the Giants had no rhythm offensively as they punted on four of their first five possessions; Jones knows they must do better.
“Obviously not good enough,” Jones said. “Didn’t get in the end zone, scored six points. Didn’t create much rhythm and flow for ourselves. I’ve got to be better, certainly got to play better, give ourselves more chances to make plays and execute more consistently.”
According to Daboll, he never thought about benching his quarterback, but you do wonder if Jones, who will make $36 million this season, struggles next week against the Commanders, will Daboll pull the plug.
This is not how you want to start the season, but there’s much more football left for the Giants to get it fixed.
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