Nearly 20 hours later, Brian Daboll’s decision didn’t change.
Daniel Jones will remain the Giants’ starter for their Week 8 game despite getting benched during the fourth quarter of their 28-3 loss to the Eagles, Daboll said during his press conference Monday.
Jones completed 14 of 21 passes for 99 yards on a day when the offense finished with just 119 total. But Daboll told Jones after the game that he’d remain Big Blue’s quarterback over Drew Lock, who replaced Jones and completed three passes for 6 yards.
Jones will continue to get all of the first-team reps in practice this week.
“I think he gives us the best chance, number one,” Daboll said. “I thought there were a lot of plays that he did exactly what he needed to do, and then look, there were some plays where it wasn’t just on Daniel. It was a collection of things. It wasn’t just one person, a protection or a route.”
But for the fourth time this season, Jones failed to throw a touchdown pass, and it marked a second consecutive underwhelming week after the 27-year-old — who missed most of last season with a neck injury and an ACL tear — made some strides in wins against the Browns and Bengals, while falling just a late touchdown drive short of potentially upsetting the Cowboys.
The Giants have averaged the second-fewest points per game (14.7) — ahead of just the Dolphins, who’ve used a collection of Skylar Thompson, Tim Boyle and Tyler Huntley with starter Tua Tagovailoa out — and the sixth-fewest yards per game (290.7).
Against their other NFC East rival Sunday, most of the Giants’ usual issues returned.
They went just 3-for-14 on third down. Just three pass plays went for more than 10 yards, with their longest play of the game being a 14-yard completion to Malik Nabers in the second quarter. And Big Blue’s latest disappointing outing appeared to prompt at least some discontent, with Nabers telling reporters to “watch the target tape” because he “was open.”
In the eyes of Daboll following the game, though, Jones remained the Giants’ best shot at figuring out a solution. And for now, he’s sticking with that.
“Again, I made that change when it was 28-3, 11 minutes left in the fourth to try and create some type of spark,” Daboll said. “Obviously, it wasn’t going great. That’s not all on Daniel, trust me.”