Giants' Daniel Jones building a profile of new offensive coordinator Jason Garrett
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones throws passes to grade-schoolers at the Citi Football Pro Camp at Miami Central High School on Sat. Feb.1, 2020. Credit: Newsday/Tom Rock
MIAMI — Daniel Jones is doing his background work on Jason Garrett at the Super Bowl.
He was at the Citi Football Pro Camp at Miami Central High School on Saturday morning throwing passes to kids, but he also has spent time mingling with other NFL players at pregame events around the city for the past few days.
One of the players he got to talk to for the first time was Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Until this week, the two NFC East quarterbacks had known each other only from brief handshakes after their games.
For Jones, it was an opportunity to ask about his new offensive coordinator, who had been the only head coach Prescott had ever played for with Dallas.
“Everyone who has worked with Coach Garrett speaks very highly of him and I think Dak was certainly the same way,” Jones said. “Guys respect him and it seems like he’s done a lot for a lot of people’s careers, so I’m excited to work with him.”
Before Garrett was hired by the Giants, Jones said his only interaction with the new offensive coordinator had been postgame handshakes. He has since met with him and new head coach Joe Judge several times as he goes through his offseason workouts in New Jersey.
“I like them a lot,” Jones said. “I’ve met with them a few times and trying to get to know them. But I like them. Coach Judge, he’s very straightforward. He’s what you saw in the press conference. He’s a football guy, a lot of energy, looking forward to working with him. And obviously Coach Garrett is a proven coach in the league. He’s won a lot of football games, coached a lot of great players.”
Because of the way the NFL structures its offseason, Jones isn’t allowed to work directly with Judge or Garrett on any kind of football installations. And because Garrett hasn’t been a play-caller in the NFL since 2012 and Judge has vowed to create a fluid, multiple-look offense, there isn’t much film to be studying to get a jump on the new schemes.
So Jones said he is basically focusing on himself and the things he needs to do to be a better quarterback in his second season with the Giants.
“I learned a system this year [2019] so we’re doing it again,” Jones said. “It’ll be a challenge and it’s something I need to spend a lot of time making sure I’m working toward and making progress with. But it’s part of the job. I think we’ll all be able to do it, we’ll all attack it the right way and try to pick it up as quickly as we can.”
The camp was one of the last stops on Jones’ first Super Bowl tour. He and a few other Giants players have been part of the build-up for the big game . . . even though they are far from part of the game itself.
“It’s exciting to see it and feel the buzz around it, feel the energy about it,” Jones said. “I definitely won’t go to the game but it does kind of get you excited. That’s certainly the goal to be playing in one of these.”
Manning honored
While Jones was getting his first taste of the Super Bowl, a two-time MVP in the game was getting his final official recognition from the NFL. Eli Manning was presented the 2020 Athletes in Action Bart Starr Award on Saturday morning. The award is given to the player who “best exemplifies outstanding character and leadership in the home, on the field and in the community.”
“It’s important that this is an award voted on by the NFL players, that it’s now my former NFL brothers that gave me the nod,” Manning said.
The voting took place before Manning’s retirement announcement last week. He is the first Giant to receive the award.
“Each of us bears the burden of proving that we’re more than a celebrated football player, of proving that we’ve learned and deeply understand what teamwork really means,” Manning said in his acceptance speech. “We have to apply those lessons and pay it forward, beyond the field, in our homes, and in our communities . . . Thank you for this incredible honor and the ability to walk away from the game knowing that football, and my last 16 years as a New York Giant, helped make me who I am.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
