The 2024 season was supposed to be the year of redemption for the New York Giants after missing the postseason last season. But so far, albeit one week, the Giants look like one of the worst teams in the NFL.
More news: NFL Power Rankings — NFC Squads Skyrocket as AFC Contenders Tumble
Much of this has to do with the struggles of quarterback Daniel Jones, who made his return to the field after suffering an ACL injury last season. Jones was looking to make his mark early on but ended up playing very poorly in the season opener.
He finished the opening game against the Minnesota Vikings by going 22-of-42 on his passes, throwing for 186 yards with zero touchdowns and two interceptions. One of those interceptions was returned for a touchdown in the 28-6 loss at home.
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
This has called for many to question whether or not Jones should be the Giants’ signal-caller moving forward. But one former tight end of the Giants seemed to go in a different direction by praising Jones.
More news: Absurd Daniel Jones Stat Shows Just How Bad Giants QB Has Been Since Signing New Deal
Kyle Rudolph appeared on the Kay Adams Show, Up & Adams, and discussed the play of Jones. Rudolph spent one season with the Giants playing alongside Jones.
“His ability, his talent — the Daniel Jones that I saw on Sunday in that game is not the same Daniel Jones that I watched take them to the divisional round of the playoffs,” Rudolph said. “It’s not the guy that I played with when I was there for a year and his confidence looks completely destroyed and how can you blame him? Every time he goes out there he’s fighting for his life.”
It’s interesting to hear this from Rudolph considering Jones has only put together one strong season in the NFL. It helped earn him a massive contract extension from New York, a deal the franchise likely regrets at this point.
Rudolph continued, saying that the Giants need to be better about protecting Jones.
“I’ve said this multiple times when I talk about DJ, can we possibly protect him? You know, they did the other part, they got him the playmaker, they went out and got Malik Nabers in the draft this year but they let Saquon Barkley go. We saw what Saquon did on Friday night in Brazil.”
If Jones can’t step his game up, no matter what the Giants do around him, some tough decisions will have to be made. This is a true make-or-break year for the former first-rounder as New York evaluates their options.
More news: Bengals Defender Takes Massive Shot at Chiefs WR Ahead of Week 2 Matchup