CLEVELAND — Come on, get off Daniel Jones' back.
Because Jones found something.
Mainly, he found Malik Neighbors.
“He's made a lot of big plays for us and I have a lot of confidence in him to go get the ball,” Jones said after the Giants 21, Browns 15 game. “We need to continue to take advantage of his ability to make plays.”
Behind an experienced offensive line (two sacks), Jones has been able to get the ball to key playmakers, primarily Neighbors, as well as W'Dale Robinson (7-61) and Devin Singletary (4-43).
“We have a lot of dangerous guys with the ball in their hands that can make guys miss catches or runs,” Jones said. “I just give them the ball and let them run.”
The vultures should no longer be surrounding Jones.
He looks like a different quarterback than the Vikings had in the season opener, Jones (44.3 quarterback rating).
His QB rating against the Commanders was 100.
Against the Browns, it was 109.4.
“Another good week,” Brian Daboll said. “He's had two good weeks in a row. He handled the noise well. He didn't lose the ball, which is good.”
“He's focused, and he's always been that way.”
Jones (24-36, 236 yards, 2 TDs, 20 rushing yards) lost his rhythm in the second half but finished the game encouraged.
“We fought and played tenacious football,” Jones said.
Daboll and Jones toyed with an aggressive Browns defense with screens, misdirection and personnel creativity.
“Our style is a lot of screens and a lot of different plays, we understand that,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said.
Jones never looked more confident last season.
It's to his credit that he blocks out the outside noise.
“I think it's always a good feeling to win, no matter how it's done,” Jones said. “The first win is important, so you've got to look back at what went well and build on that and make up for what didn't go well.”
He says that every week, win or lose.
He absolutely needed to say that after the win.
