As Ryan Dunleavy and Paul Schwartz of the New York Post shared, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones publicly campaigned on Monday to play in the Giants’ preseason opener against the Detroit Lions this Thursday.
Giants legend and NFL analyst Tiki Barber isn’t a fan of such a plan.
“The last thing you want to happen in a preseason practice or preseason game is somebody to try to make the team off of you,” Barber said during Monday’s edition of the WFAN afternoon show, per Ryan Chichester of Audacy. “Making a big hit, a big moment, a ‘look at me’ moment, it puts you on tape.”
Jones understandably wants to shake off lingering rust long before he takes the field for the Week 1 matchup versus the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 8. The 27-year-old missed time last season due to his second neck injury in three years, and he later went down with a torn ACL on Nov. 5 that prematurely ended his campaign.
While Jones has been a full participant in 11-on-11 work during training camp, he insisted Monday that “it’s valuable to get game reps” against live opponents such as the Lions. Barber indicated the risk of Jones playing in meaningless games this month isn’t worth any potential reward.
“If you’re a veteran or a starting quarterback, it’s the last thing you need… someone young and inexperienced does something stupid in a preseason game,” Barber added during his comments.
Jones seemingly has nothing to prove to head coach Brian Daboll before September, as there’s no sign the 2019 first-round draft pick is in danger of losing the starting job to backup Drew Lock before Week 1. As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook continued to list Jones as the overwhelming betting favorite at -600 odds to start over Lock (+400) against Minnesota.
It also shouldn’t be ignored that the Giants have millions of reasons to want to keep Jones as healthy as possible as long as the club has a mathematical shot at making the playoffs. Even if Jones takes a handful of preseason snaps through the Aug. 24 game against the New York Jets, it seems unlikely he’d be put in any real danger before the second Sunday of September arrives.
