MUNICH — The New York Giants (2-8) face a lot of questions as they enter their bye week. Among them, what to do with starting quarterback Daniel Jones, who threw a pair of costly interceptions in Sunday’s 20-17 overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers.
“I’d say we got a lot of work to do here in the next few days, in the next week, and we’ll evaluate where we’re at and what we need to do,” coach Brian Daboll said about his quarterback position.
Daboll has said repeatedly in recent weeks that Jones is the team’s starting quarterback. This time he said they will “evaluate.” It leaves the door open for Drew Lock or Tommy DeVito to start games coming out of the bye after another shaky performance by Jones.
The Giants were shut out in the first half by the league’s 32nd-ranked defense. Jones wasn’t happy with his performance overall.
“Not good enough,” he said.
Daboll said he did not think about benching Jones at halftime even though his quarterback threw a bad interception deep in Carolina territory late in the first half. Jones rolled out right and had his pass tipped by outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney. It fell into the arms of safety Xavier Woods and kept the Giants scoreless.
Jones still came out for the second half as the starter.
“I thought we could get something going, which we did,” Daboll said. “Started out slow, had some opportunities there, but did not [think of benching Jones at halftime].”
Jones’ struggles began at the start. He airmailed a pass to rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers on the opening drive. He then didn’t see two wide-open receivers (Nabers and Wan’Dale Robinson) on a third-and-1 flea-flicker later in the half.
Daboll was extremely careful about putting blame on his quarterback after the game. It was in stark contrast to the way he handled the aftermath of a “Monday Night Football” loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers two weeks ago.
“I wish I had [that play] back,” Daboll said. “I wish I had it back. Didn’t work.”
But the receivers were open?
“I wish I had it back,” he said. “Bad coaching.”
Jones finished 22-of-37 passing for 190 yards with no touchdown passes and two interceptions. He did rush for a touchdown. The veteran quarterback now goes into the bye week with eight touchdown passes and seven interceptions this season. It’s back to the drawing board.
“I think just evaluate what we haven’t done well enough, what’s holding us back, see where I need to be better and where I can help the team,” Jones said of his plan this week. “Yeah, I think that’s the mindset we all need to take going into this second half of the season.”
It seems in doubt what Jones will be able to contribute. He signed a four-year, $160 million contract last year, but it does have a reasonable out after this season. The Giants didn’t hide the fact that they were actively looking at quarterbacks in the draft earlier this year.
Jones, 27, has an injury guarantee in his contract that could come into play in the second half of the season. The Giants would owe him $23 million for 2025 if he were to suffer a serious injury and not be ready for next season.