If you didn’t watch Sunday’s game at U.S. Bank Stadium and only listened to Brian Daboll’s postgame press conference, you would have thought Daniel Jones turned in a performance we’ve come to expect from the Giants quarterback.
Quite the contrary. Jones delivered arguably the best game of his NFL career to date, and he’s a huge reason why New York is onto the divisional round of the 2022 playoffs.
Jones completed 24 of 35 pass attempts for 301 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the Giants’ 31-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings. The fourth-year signal-caller also was the game’s leading rusher, scampering for 78 yards on 17 carries.
Asked to evaluate Jones’ afternoon after New York’s upset wild-card win, Daboll said, “He played good,” per NJ.com.
The Giants head coach reiterated the remark after he was pressed on his initial answer, saying, “Yeah, he played good. Winning football.”
After reporters suggested Daboll might have sold Jones short, the first-year head coach poked fun at himself before giving a bit more praise to the 2019 first-rounder.
“Isn’t good a good adjective to use? Yeah. I’m not a writer. I’m just a coach,” Daboll told reporters. “Look, I’ve said it all year. Daniel is good for us. He continues to be good for us and he played a good game. And I think there (are) a lot of other people that played good games, too, to help him play a good game, he’ll be the first to admit it. But as the leader of our football team, I’m proud of him.”
The Giants probably will need a similar performance — or better — from Jones if they want their playoff run to extend to the NFC Championship Game. A tall task awaits New York on Saturday night when Jones and company will visit the top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles.
