Giants' Daniel Jones Continues Strong Preseason with 141 Yards in Win vs Bengals

The New York Giants don't want Daniel Jones to play this season.

He might not be giving them much of a choice.

The rookie continued his stellar preseason Thursday, throwing for 141 yards in the Giants' 25-23 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Jones took most of the snaps under center after replacing Eli Manning, completing nine of his 11 passes while leading a second-quarter touchdown drive that ended in a Rod Smith run from one yard out. He's missed on only five of his 30 preseason attempts overall while throwing two touchdowns without an interception.

The performance came days after Jones was in the headlines after Baker Mayfield appeared to make critical comments about the Giants taking the Duke product in a GQ article. Mayfield has since contacted Jones and said he was taken out of context.

"He’s in a long line of people that criticized that move," Giants coach Pat Shurmur told reporters. “That’s his business. And if I were Dan, I wouldn’t even address it, just like he hasn’t addressed all his other critics.

"The one thing about Dan is, don’t confuse calm and composed for a guy that’s competitive and a winner. I’m fond of the phrase ‘still waters run deep.’ So that’s what I think of Dan."

Manning threw for 41 yards on 4-of-8 passing in his first preseason action. He led the Giants to a field goal on his only drive of the game.

Bengals starting quarterback Andy Dalton threw for 104 yards and a touchdown in his limited work. He hit C.J. Uzomah for a 26-yard touchdown with nine seconds remaining in the first quarter before exiting.

The game was tied at 10 going into the fourth quarter before guys fighting for their spots on the roster started making big plays. Kyle Lauletta helped the Giants drive down the field for a touchdown drive, and Brittan Golden brought back a punt in the fourth to put them ahead for good.

The Giants are the first team to move to 3-0 in the preseason.