Brian Daboll Doesn't Commit to Daniel Jones Moving Forward

Daboll declined to back Daniel Jones as the New York Giants' starter going forward after the team lost a 20-17 overtime game to Carolina.

Nov 10, 2024; Munich, Germany; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) carries the ball against the New York Giants in the second half during the 2024 NFL Munich Game at Allianz Arena. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It was hard to miss the emotional strain on New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll’s face after his team lost a 20-17 game in overtime to the Carolina Panthers.

But that’s apparently nothing compared to what awaits Daboll once the Giants return to the United States from Munich.

Daboll, whose team is in the midst of a five-game losing streak—the longest under his watch—continues to face growing questions about the team's state and, in particular, quarterback Daniel Jones’s future as the team’s starter.

Jones, who has been given every possible chance to succeed as quarterback, fell flat once again. 

He not only threw two bad interceptions, both in the red zone against a porous Carolina defense, but he continued to miss wide-open receivers. For example, on the 3rd-and-1 flea flicker, Jones hesitated to throw to one of two open receivers in the middle of the field only to end up taking a sack.

He also continued struggling with his accuracy, throwing behind receivers or overshooting them, such as on the first series on third down, when he missed an open Malik Nabers along the sideline.

Despite Jones’s struggles at halftime–he was 6 of 14 for 54 yards and one interception (24.1 rating), Daboll said he didn’t think about making a change to Drew Lock for the game’s final 30 minutes.

“I thought we could get something going, which we did. Started out slow, had some opportunities there, but did not,” he said.

The biggest question sure to linger as the Giants head into their bye this coming week is whether they plan to stay with Jones as quarterback.

New York is 3-13 in games Jones has started since last season. While there have been a few flashes here and there of him playing like the quarterback he was in 2022 when the Giants finished 9-7-1 and made the playoffs, there have been more hair-pulling moments in his play, which continue to be highlighted by his post-snap reads and decision-making.

And Daboll, who in prior losses during this current losing streak, has immediately backed Jones as the starter for the following week was not willing to do so this tie when asked about the quarterback’s immediate future.

“Yeah, I'd say we've got a lot of work to do here in the next few days, in the next week, and we'll evaluate where we're at and what we need to do,” Daboll said.

The Giants' latest loss now raises even more questions than answers about where this once proud but now lost franchise will go from here. 

Both Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen were given verbal votes of confidence by team co-owner John Mara last month when asked if he anticipated making any changes at the top, but after this latest loss, which pushed the Giants closer to the No. 1 pick in next spring’s draft, one has to wonder if all bets are off.

“Obviously we're not where we want to be,” Daboll said, adding that he felt they had the right people in place to turn things around. “We'll go back. We'll have our bye week. We'll evaluate things in the bye week, and do the things we need to do. We'll practice a couple of days next week and evaluate everything.”

Unfortunately for him and the Giants, it’s too late to save the team’s 100th season from the pits of despair.

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