Giants' Dave Gettleman on Daniel Jones: 'We Really Believe He's the Guy'

The New York Giants are sticking with Daniel Jones.

General manager Dave Gettleman told reporters Tuesday that Jones was the franchise quarterback going forward and the team wouldn't be looking for other options this offseason:

"We've had Daniel for two years; we've done the evaluation on him and we really believe he's the guy. No reason to go look. What we're doing isn't fantasy football, we're not playing, we're not doing that. We've got a conviction on him, he's everything we want, he's got all the physical skills and again I say this all the time, the kid just finished his second year of NFL football. How many of us after two years at our new job were great? No, we all start at point 'A' and we hopefully get to point 'Z,' but the one common denominator is it takes time. Everybody has to understand that. We believe in Daniel and that's where it is."

Head coach Joe Judge concurred.

"Again, we have confidence in Daniel, he's a player that we want to work with going forward with this team," he said. "He's shown us a lot of improvement, there's a lot of things. I can go on and on about how we respect him and like him and how the locker room responds to him, but the simple answer to that is no."

Jones, 23, threw for 2,943 yards, 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his sophomore campaign last year, completing 62.5 percent of his passes in 14 games. It was something of a step back from his rookie year, when he threw for 24 scores and 12 picks, perhaps calling into question for some fans whether Jones was the right option going forward.

After all, the Giants are just 8-18 in his starts.

But context matters. The team was without star running back Saquon Barkley for the majority of last season. The entire roster is a work in progress. Jones battled injuries throughout the 2020 campaign.

Still, it was a disappointment. The Giants surged back into the NFC East title race by winning four straight games in November and early December, only to promptly lose three in a row. Through it all Jones has been inconsistent, showing flashes of ability and athleticism (423 rushing yards and a score last year), only to see them offset by questionable decision-making or a failure to protect the ball (11 fumbles in 2020).

"In terms of Daniel, like every other player and every coach, we all have things we have to improve on and take strides forward in this year," Judge said. "That's no different for any player on our roster or any player in the league really."

So the Giants are fully behind Jones, at least for now. The question will be how long the team will remain patient with the young quarterback if he doesn't take major strides in 2021. With the NFC East very much up for grabs, another rocky season from Jones will be tough to defend in the Big Apple.