Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll Disappointed Things Didn’t Work Out With Daniel Jones
New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll came to the team with a reputation for being a quarterback whisperer, his work surging into the national spotlight thanks to the development of Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama (now with Miami) and more recently Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills.
But when it came to salvaging Daniel Jones’s Giants career, Daboll’s magic seemed to run out, the quarterback now no longer on the team, his request for release having been granted five days after Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen informed the six-year veteran that he was being released.
Daboll, who was otherwise tight lipped when asked about what is now the final development in a lengthy chapter, did express disappointment in not being able to make it work with Jones.
“You do everything you can do, and I'm disappointed it didn't work out,” he said. “ I've got a great respect for him and how he went about his business.”
Jones looked like he had finally turned the corner in 2022, his first season under Daboll. But back then, he had offensive coordinator Mike KAfka calling the plays.
Last year was a complete meltdown thanks largely in part to injuries that hit the offense hard and left Jones, who dealt with another neck injury and then the ACL, to play most of his limited season without running back Saquon Barkley and left tackle Andrew Thomas.
Jones was among the three quarterbacks the Giants fielded–the other two being Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito, the latter the new starter for the team beginning this Sunday– who played behind a dismal offensive line that allowed a whopping 85 sacks.
This year, Jones, who worked nonstop to make sure he was ready after tearing his ACL last year, had another play caller, Daboll, in his ear, his fifth one in six years (Pat Shurmur, Jason Garrett, Freddie Kitchens, and Kafka the others).
Daboll said he told the team about Jones’s release before they had their walkthrough on Friday.
“It was a little bit of a talk, a couple minutes,” he said. “Again, this is not an easy thing. You're around people every day for a long amount of time, whether it's years for some people or months for other people. You've got a great respect for your teammates, but we've got to get ready to go.”
Given the magnitude of the news, which while not surprising certainly capped a long and emotionally charged week for the team whose players earlier in the week expressed confusion over the move to bench Jones for Tommy DeVito, Daboll was confident that the team would be ready to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
“I think they're focused. They're ready to go,” he said. “We're going to need a good day today to play our best game.”