SEATTLE — Daniel Jones lowered his shoulder on a couple of his runs Sunday, initiating contact with defenders rather than absorbing it. Then he was equally as spicy at the postgame podium.
This was D.J. in attack mode. This was a franchise quarterback, who has been ridiculed by fellow NFL players and media alike, pushing back after a strong performance and a statement 29-20 road win.
“A lot was made of not being able to run the ball as well last week,” Jones said, shoving the Giants’ 5.1 yards per carry in doubters’ faces after a week’s worth of heat for their 1.1 yards per carry against Dallas. “I think we understand who we are and what we can be. You try not to get too distracted by some of the stuff that comes up after one game. We have a lot of confidence in our run game.”
Jones was then asked how he avoids getting distracted by the constant media attention in New York. The normally reserved quarterback leaned right into it.
“I think just knowing what’s real, knowing what’s actually going on, what happened,” Jones said. “You can’t follow the storyline of the week. I think that’s just about focusing on what we do, listening to the opinions that matter. That’s the people in the building — coaches, teammates — and focus on that. Not distracting yourself or allowing yourself to look outside of it.
“I thought we did a good job of that this week, and that’s important for us as a team,” the sixth-year veteran added. “But [there will] always be a story of the week or idea that’s out there, and it’s our job to know what’s real, fix the problems that are real and ignore the things that aren’t.”
This us-against-the-world attitude permeated through the team Sunday. The other issue under the Giants’ skin was the constant focus on their inability to make explosive passing plays down the field on Jones deep balls.
While praising wide receiver Darius Slayton, head coach Brian Daboll stopped to ask a reporter how many yards Slayton’s longest catch of the day was.
Daboll knew the answer: 41. It was the Giants’ first 40-plus yard passing play of the season. He was just making a point, shoving it back in the media’s face.
Slayton mocked the media’s harping on Jones missing some deep throws in the Cowboys game, as well.
“He hit the shots today that, you know, everyone’s been saying we need to hit,” Slayton said, smiling and rolling his eyes.
Jones threw a jab about the Slayton completion, as well.
“I think, yeah, you know, there is a storyline I guess there,” he said.
This edge from the Giants, and Jones in particular, is welcome and arguably necessary given that no one truly believes in their ability to contend this year except for them.
Jones posted his best quarterback rating this season (109.6) on Sunday and the ninth-best of his career.
He completed 23 of 34 passes for 234 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. It was Jones’ third game in four weeks with two TD passes, no interceptions and a rating of at least 100.0.
He also racked up a season-high 38 rushing yards on 11 carries, making him the first quarterback in Giants history to rush for at least 2,000 yards (he now has 2,022).
It’s not just what he did Sunday, though. It’s how he did it.
Jones drove his body into Seahawks defenders. When Seattle’s players pummeled him with big hits, he got right up and continued dissecting them efficiently.
He was undeterred.
This is the same quarterback who was being trashed by other NFL players and national media after his preseason pick-six against the Houston Texans and his Week 1 pick-six against the Minnesota Vikings.
It has become trendy in the NFL to mock Jones, from Baker Mayfield years ago to the San Francisco 49ers players last season to corner Patrick Peterson this offseason and on down the line.
The Giants’ decision to pay him big bucks while letting players like Saquon Barkley and Xavier McKinney leave is not viewed by critics — including many NFL players — as the proper allocation of resources.
Even teammate Kayvon Thibodeaux said in January that he thought Barkley should have been paid before Jones. And the Giants’ front office and coaching staff scouted quarterbacks to draft one this past April as Jones’ replacement, but just couldn’t move up to get Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye.
That puts them on an obvious track to closely scout the 2025 NFL Draft class’ quarterbacks, as well.
So it’s Jones against the proverbial world. That makes him a good leader for a Giants team in the same predicament, frankly, out to prove themselves right and everyone else wrong.
And if he plays this way consistently, it becomes harder to imagine the Giants would be in the first-round quarterback market come draft time — although that decision won’t be made until Jones has this year’s runway to prove if he can be this consistently effective or not.
That’s what makes Jones’ shoulder-lowering on his runs so positively contagious, though. It indicates he’s running towards the storm, determined to push his way straight through it.
Slayton joked that as Jones’ teammate, he’d rather not see the quarterback take so many hits.
“That’s about the only thing that’s cringy about his play sometimes,” Slayton said with a laugh. “I’m like ‘Look, hey, man. I know you’re Mr. Tough Guy and all that, but [let’s] get the yards and get down.”
That’s not who Jones is, though. And maybe the Giants are better off because of it. It certainly seemed that way Sunday.
“Any time a quarterback does that — you got to be smart about it — but he’s a true competitor,” Daboll said. “There was a play couple weeks back, him pushing on the goal line in Cleveland. He’s a competitive young man who — again, Daniel Jones has done everything that I and we have asked him to do.
“He’s here early,” the coach said. “He stays late. He’s got good leadership traits. It’s never been easy for him, but everything we’ve asked him to do he does it the very best he can do it. He’s played some good football here. We’re going to need him to continue to do that.”
Jones then walked off the podium to greet his parents, who had attended Sunday’s game in person in Seattle, feeling “comfortable” and “confident” and pleased with shutting up the skeptics for one week.
“Just practicing staying focused on what is important,” Jones said.
