Daniel Jones' toughness inspires Giants teammates
Daniel Jones #8 of the New York Giants scrambles during the first quarter against the Chicago Bears at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Credit: Jim McIsaac
LONDON — Daniel Jones hasn’t earned a second contract from the Giants.
He has earned their respect, though.
That was always there at some level but it became particularly apparent this past week. His coaches and teammates — many of whom are around him this season for the first time — watched him limp out of MetLife Stadium after spraining his left ankle against the Bears, then saw the efforts he put into rehabbing the injury and the way he was able to practice with the limitation. On Sunday, he will play as the Giants face the Packers at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.
“He’s a gritty guy, he’s a tough guy,” Saquon Barkley said. “It speaks volumes when your quarterback has that mindset.”
In retrospect, maybe Jones’ availability for this game shouldn't have been such a question mark that lingered right up until Friday afternoon when the team announced he would play.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said of Jones’ availability. “Right after the game [against the Bears] he was running on it.”
There were still MRIs and X-rays, extra tape and the switch to high-top cleats for added support, but almost as soon as the win over the Bears was finished Jones went about focusing on the Packers and getting himself physically prepared for the next game.
“Early in the week I started feeling better pretty quickly,” Jones said of his trajectory. “I realized that I was recovering quickly and felt good.”
By midweek it seemed as if he was healthy enough to play. Still, he was listed as limited in practices on Wednesday and Thursday.
That may have been more about getting practice-squadder Davis Webb some reps with the starters in case he has to play. Webb will be the backup Sunday with Tyrod Taylor unavailable because of a concussion. Because he had played third string through the summer it was the first time many of the first-stringers had been in a huddle with him.
While Jones, the coaches and the medical staff remained optimistic about his not missing a start because of the ankle sprain, not everyone on the team was in the loop.
“I didn’t know really what the situation was going to be that whole entire week,” safety Xavier McKinney said. “It’s definitely good for them to be out here, it obviously helps our team out a lot.”
Not just on the field, either.
“It makes us want to play for each other more knowing that we are all nicked up a little bit, we all are hurting a little bit, but we’re all fighting for each other and fighting for a win,” Lawrence said of Jones’ quick recovery. “It pumps you up a little bit showing that your brother is fighting for you even though he’s wounded. Just always have his back, and the way you have his back is doing your job and playing well.”
In a way, that personifies the culture the Giants are trying to build. Saquon Barkley’s image may be on the banner hanging outside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium trumpeting the latest arrival of NFL teams to the city making him the literal face of the franchise, but what Jones has done this week may be the soul of the franchise.
“Everyone knows how I feel about DJ, just his mentality, his work ethic, the type of talent that he is,” Barkley said. “We’re going to continue to rock with him and just keep going.”
This week’s game likely won’t play a deciding part in the team’s determination of whether or not they keep Jones around after this season is over.
This week as a whole, though? It just might.
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.
