Daniel Jones Thanks Giants, Takes Responsibility for Struggles After Benching

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones opened up about his recent benching Thursday.

"The opportunity to play for the New York Giants was truly a dream come true," he told reporters. "… There have been some great times, but of course we all wish there were more of those. I take full responsibility for my part in not bringing more wins. No one wanted to win more games worse than me, and I gave everything I had on the field and in my preparations.

"Of course, this season has been disappointing for all. And, of course, I wish I could have done more. I'm 100 percent accountable for my part. I did not play well enough consistently enough to help the team get the results."

This surely isn't what the Giants had in mind when they gave Jones a contract extension last year with the hope he could fully live up to the expectations that were put in place when they selected him with the No. 6 overall pick of the 2019 NFL draft.

Yet they are 2-8 with Jones ranked an abysmal 32nd in the league in passer rating and 29th in QBR among 36 qualified quarterbacks, per Pro Football Reference.

While the performance left much to be desired, it should also be noted there is a $23 million injury guarantee for the 2025 season that would be fully guaranteed if he suffered an injury that prevented him from passing a physical in the offseason.

With the Giants now playing out the string on a lost season, it wasn't difficult to speculate they had financial motivations behind the decision to bench Jones.

He confirmed it was "a piece of the conversation" during his Thursday press conference:

Fox Sports' Jordan Schultz reported there is a sense of "disappointment" among some on the team because they saw the benching as driven purely by financial decisions.

With New York now turning to Tommy DeVito as the starter, The Athletic's Dan Duggan noted Jones spent part of Thursday's practice playing safety on the practice squad. He was joined on the scout team defense by practice squad offensive linemen and various assistant coaches.

The update came after Duggan reported on Wednesday that Jones was the fourth quarterback in drills behind DeVito, Drew Lock and Tim Boyle.

It seems like Jones' time as an on-field contributor with the Giants is over, although he expressed optimism during his Thursday press conference that he believes "there's a lot of good football in front of me."