FEW MINUTES AGO: Giants legend issues preseason warning to Daniel Jones.
According to Ryan Dunleavy and Paul Schwartz of the New York Post, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones publicly campaigned on Monday to play in the team’s preseason opener against the Detroit Lions this Thursday. Tiki Barber, a Giants legend and NFL analyst, is not a fan of such a concept.
“The last thing you want to happen in a preseason practice or preseason game is somebody trying to make the team off of you,” Barber stated on Monday’s edition of the WFAN afternoon show, according to Ryan Chichester of Audacy. “Making a big hit, a big moment, a ‘look at me’ moment, it puts you on tape.”
Jones understandably wants to shake off lingering rust long before he takes the field for the Week 1 matchup versus the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 8. The 27-year-old missed time last season due to his second neck injury in three years, and he later went down with a torn ACL on Nov. 5 that prematurely ended his campaign.
While Jones has been a full participant in 11-on-11 work during training camp, he insisted Monday that “it’s valuable to get game reps” against live opponents such as the Lions. Barber indicated the risk of Jones playing in meaningless games this month isn’t worth any potential reward.
“As a veteran or starting quarterback, this is the last thing you need…” “Someone young and inexperienced does something stupid in a preseason game,” Barber said.
Jones appears to have nothing to prove to head coach Brian Daboll until September, as there is no indication that the 2019 first-round draft pick will lose his starting spot to backup Drew Lock before week one.
As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook still had Jones as the overwhelming betting favorite with -600 odds to start over Lock (+400) versus Minnesota.
It also shouldn’t be ignored that the Giants have millions of reasons to want to keep Jones as healthy as possible as long as the club has a mathematical shot at making the playoffs. Even if Jones takes a handful of preseason snaps through the Aug. 24 game against the New York Jets, it seems unlikely he’d be put in any real danger before the second Sunday of September arrives.
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