E-GIANTS
Dave Klein was the Giants' beat writer for The Star-Ledger from 1961 to 1995.
He is the author of 26 books and he was one of only three sportswriters to have covered all the Super Bowls up until last year. Dave has allowed TEAM GIANTS to reprint some of his articles.

IT'S TIME TO SIGN DANIEL JONES BEFORE HE GETS AWAY

By Dave Klein
Exactly what's going on here?

When this season started, the Giants were still reeling from a lack of talent, a lack of coaching, a lack of improvement and mostly everything else. The only factor that was lacking and could be considered a positive is the absence of Joe Judge.

So in came Brian Daboll to coach this collection of reg-tags and Joe Schoen to be the general manager, replacing the Judge-like Dave Gettleman, and now the team is 4-1, tied with Dallas in the NFC East and one game behind the equally surprising Philadelphia Eagles.

Well, what's going on here?

For one thing, the quarterback nobody thought could make it as a leader has shown all the necessary leadership skills. And at this moment, Daniel Jones is not only this team's quarterback, but the Schoen group better make plans to spend whatever it takes to keep him around.

He is without a contract, you see, since he has already chewed up his rookie contract signed three years ago and when this season ends, he'll be a free agent - since the Giants didn't think it was crucial to re-sign him during the off-season.

Don't you think a few other teams are going to want to nail him down to a long-term, high-paying deal? He's not exactly Aaron Judge, but for the Giants he just might be.

Two games ago he suffered a painful sprained ankle, and there was doubt as to whether he'd manage to play Sunday in London. Well, he played, and he completed 21 of 27 passes, ran the ball 10 times for 37 yards, accounted for a total of 254 yards and managed to beat the heavily favored Green Bay Packers, 27-22.

"He has exhibited his toughness -- both mental and physical -- every day I've been around him," said Daboll yesterday. "I think I've gotten to know him pretty well these last few months. He's a mentally tough kid [I shouldn't say kid] - young man. But he's also physically tough.
"I got to see that this past week, preparing for Packers and their defense, with some pretty good guys up front. But he's really tough. He didn't want to miss any reps. We also had to try to get [backup quarterback] Davis Webb ready to go.
"So, again, each day he got a little bit better," Daboll continued. "He was pretty sore, I'd say, after the last [Chicago] game. And then the next day, he's in here as long as he can be getting treatment. So, one, he cares about the team. And he did everything he could do to be as ready as he could.
"And I'd say that for the first five weeks that I've been with him for the regular season, I think he's exhibited his toughness - both mental and physical - every day I've been around him."
Jones, who usually shies away from talking about himself, made a brief exception. "I'm confident in myself," he said about his critic-silencing performance. "I'm confident in my ability to play and help this team win games. So how people respond to that or how people see that is up to them."

So the Giants are 4-1, and last season they didn't win their fourth until the 11th game of the schedule. It should be noted that they became 4-7 that day against Philadelphia and closed out the final six games of Judge's career with six losses.

Listen, this is tough to deal with, all this success. The usually devout fans just don't know how to process this sudden and unexpected success. Many are trying to laugh it off, saying the Giants are "the worst 4-1 team in the league." Perhaps, but they are still 4-1, and how many saw that coming?

Daboll finds no humor in that.

"Quite honestly," he says, "my focus is on trying to do what we need to do each week and be as consistent as we can. Whether we're 4-1 or 1-4, or whatever our record is, that's what our record is. It's always about improvement and trying to do the best job you can each week to play your best and coach your best."
It is true that a team with a 4-1 record is, well, a team with a 4-1 record. The quality of that will prove itself as the season progresses.

EXTRA POINTS -- Daniel Bellinger became the first rookie tight end in team history to rush for a touchdown when he scored from two yards out with 1:15 remaining in the second quarter in London Sunday. On second-and-goal, Jones took a shotgun snap, pitched the ball to Saquon Barkley - running left after lining up wide right - who flipped the ball to Bellinger running right - into the end zone.
Bellinger is the first Giants' tight end to rush for a touchdown since Oct. 11, 2020, when Evan Engram scored on a three-yard run against the Cowboys in Dallas.
Darius Slayton led Giant receivers with six catches for 79 yards. He entered the game with one reception for 11 yards. ... DT Dexter Lawrence's sack of Aaron Rodgers for a six-yard loss was his team-leading third sack in two games. LB O'Shane Ximines sacked Rodgers on the game's final play and has 2.0.

davesklein@aol.com

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