New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones took his first live snaps in a game on Saturday afternoon since tearing his ACL last November.
The Giants played a sloppy game against the Texans in Houston, losing 28-10, but the biggest takeaway is that Jones is healthy. Rusty, but healthy.
“I feel good physically. Yeah, the knee felt good,” Jones told reporters after the game. “Felt really good and excited to be out there, grateful for all the people who’ve helped me get to this point, all the doctors and trainers and staff we have here who have helped me. It was fun to be out there. Didn’t start perfect, like I said, but we got going and I felt good.”
It took a while for Jones to get his sea legs back. He threw an inexplicably boneheaded interception for a pick-6 and then underthrew Jalin Hyatt for another one. Before all of that, Houston cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. — who picked off the Hyatt pass — dropped another gift-wrapped ball by Jones intended for Malik Nabers.
But Jones wasn’t about to be discouraged. The game plan was vanilla and he has a lot of new faces around him. They are a team in a bit of transition and he knows it could take time to gain familiarity and traction.
“I think you kind of want to stay even keel, understand what went wrong and looking at the tablet, talking to coaches, talking to your teammates, getting that out and making sure you’re ready to go,” he said, “but you don’t have time to let that affect your confidence, your mood, and I thought I did a good job of that. That’s something I always try to focus on.”
Jones led the Giants on two scoring drives after the rocky start — one for a touchdown and one ending in a field goal. The highlights were a 44-yard strike to his favorite target, Darius Slayton, and the beginning of a pitch-and-catch relationship with rookie Malik Nabers.
“Yeah, it felt good to execute, move the ball there in that drive, that two-minute drive. I think guys made some big-time plays out there, Darius and Malik, felt good to execute. We want to finish with a touchdown there, I think that was important,” Jones said.
Jones ended on a high note, completing 11-of-18 passes for 138 yards which, hopefully for him and the Giants, will carry over into the regular season.