What Giants' GM Joe Schoen's Responses About the QB Revealed

The Giants management brass didn't say it in so many words, but it's clear that Daniel Jones's days as the starter appear to be over.

New York Giants QB Daniel Jones. / Danielle Parhizkaran / USA TODAY NETWORK

Neither head coach Brian Daboll nor general manager Joe Schoen was willing to disclose the team’s plans moving forward regarding Daniel Jones’s immediate future as the team’s starting quarterback, each man claiming that all that and more would be part of the evaluation process.

But Schoen, despite trying to skirt the topic during his Tuesday press conference, may have offered clues as to which way the team‘s brass is leaning.

Schoen revealed that the players went through a practice Tuesday before being dismissed for the rest of the week. But when asked if either Drew Lock or Tommy DeVito received any first-team reps, Schoen said, “It wasn't the typical practice. So, there were no first-team reps.”

That’s noteworthy because even though the Giants weren’t working on a game plan of sorts, one would think that if they intended to keep things status quo at quarterback, there would be more of a structure as to who took reps with what unit.

Schoen, Daboll, and team ownership plan to discuss a multitude of factors regarding the future of the franchise’s starting quarterback as they consider their options moving forward. One factor SChoen did say won’t be considered is Jones’s $23 million injury guarantee which looms large over the franchise.

“We're going to evaluate everything the rest of the week and the decisions we make will be football decisions,” he said.

Schoen, like Daboll, refused to lay blame for the team’s 2-8 record at the feet of Jones, saying that it was a collective effort that got the Giants to where they currently are.

But it’s certainly noteworthy that Daboll, who in past weeks, when asked about his starting quarterback following a loss, immediately gave an answer, refused to do so this week when asked after the 20-17 overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers in Munich and again on Monday during his video call with reporters.  

“Daniel has played some good games,” Schoen said. “There's some games where maybe he'd like to have some throws back or do things differently. But, in general, it's not one individual or one situation that keeps occurring, unfortunately.”

Schoen did drop some hints into his thinking when speaking about the red zone, where the Giants are currently ranked last in the league and where solid quarterback play is especially important.     

“We're moving the ball, we're getting down there, we get in critical situations and we're 32nd in the red zone,” he said. “We got to find a way to put the ball in the end zone and that's a big part of it.”

Schoen refused to discuss Jones's long-term future with the team, instead pivoting to the remaining seven games in the season. 

“It's important that we find ways to win games,” he said. “That's part of changing the culture and expecting to win. You don't want it to be, ‘Here we go again.’ So, that's a mindset that we're still trying to develop.”  

But when he was asked if there was anything he wished he had done differently at the quarterback position, where the Giants briefly flirted with Russell Wilson, who eventually signed with the Steelers, he became uncomfortable before answering, “No.”

Schoen also mentioned mistakes he made after his first season as general manager when asked if he was specifically referring to extending Jones.  

Rather than answer it, he said, “Well, we also extended A.T. (Andrew Thomas), we extended (defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence II) Dex.”

Schoen’s non-answers pretty much tell one all they need to know about what the plan is moving forward at quarterback. It’s just a matter of which of Lock and DeVito gets the nod.

dark. Next. 11/12: Factors Giants Considering in QB Switch. Factors Giants Are Likely Considering in Potential Quarterback Switch

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