Daniel Jones knows more than he lets on.
He's a self-confessed social media snob, and if he were a racehorse he'd wear a blindfold as he enters the starting gate.
He keeps distractions at bay whenever possible.
But he's not unaware.
When he completed a 41-yard pass to Darius Slayton in Seattle last week, he knew it was off the mark when faced with statistics that support the theory that he's struggled to connect on long balls this season. .
“Yeah, I think there's a story there,” he said with a smile after the Giants beat the Seahawks 29-20.
Yes, there was a story there.
The six-year partnership between Daniel Jones and the New York Football Giants is full of stories.
Sunday night at MetLife Stadium against the hopeless Bengals (1-4), when Jones takes the field with an almost completely useless record under these circumstances, another one of them looks ugly. Raise your head.
This will be Jones' 16th game in prime time.
They are 1-14 in their last 15 games, meaning a national television audience will almost always be watching Jones and the Giants lose.
Certainly, there are mitigating circumstances inherent in such a dismal record.
Yes, the Giants were favored in only one of the 15 games.
Still…this is a storyline that needs a different ending.
“If you look at the past, over the years we haven't won enough,” Jones said. “So whether it's prime time or not, I think we have to win. I'm confident. I'm excited for this opportunity. I think we all are.”
The last time the Giants made it to prime time, they trailed the Cowboys 20-15 in Week 3.
The team didn't lose because of Jones, but the offense was unable to score a touchdown, and with a “No Trespassing” sign posted at the goal line, the quarterback took the brunt of the blame. .
It's another home loss for Jones and the Giants, and it's another storyline that the 2-3 team must erase in order to be taken seriously.
The Giants are 2-1 on the road this season and 0-2 at MetLife Stadium.
Jones' career record is 12-19-1 in 32 home games and 12-21-0 in 33 road games.
At home, he has thrown 27 touchdown passes and 29 interceptions for a passer rating of 78.7.
On the road, he recorded 41 touchdown passes, 14 interceptions, and a passer rating of 91.8.
These divisions are surprising. Jones said he wasn't aware of it.
“No, I haven’t seen it,” he said. “But I think it's the same on the football field. No matter where you are, it's important to go out there and play well. So I'm excited to get out there. It should be a great atmosphere for football.”
Should it be?
Yes, the Giants are winning on the road and there is some optimism about what the trajectory of the season will be.
There's also the fear of the grim inevitability that it only takes a few three-and-outs, a sack, or a costly interception for the home fans to express dissatisfaction.
The idea is that Jones is more comfortable playing away from all of this.
“I'm excited to play at home,” he said.
Incredibly, paying customers haven't seen Jones lead a touchdown drive since the final game of the 2022 season.
He didn't make it in 2023 in losses to the Cowboys and Seahawks before tearing his ACL.
This season, he was unable to do so in home losses to the Vikings and Cowboys.
This job will not be easy at all. Star rookie receiver Malik Nabors has missed his second consecutive game in concussion protocol, and starting running back Devin Singletary has not fully healed from a groin strain.
Coming off an impressive upset win in Seattle, a notoriously tough place to play, the Giants are 3.5 points behind a Bengals team that has lost four of their first five games at home and are the only team to play. What does it mean to be a team? Will it give the Panthers, generally recognized as the worst team in the league, a win?
It says that few believe the Giants, playing under lights, will win no matter where they are.
“We want to win every game and play well every game,” Jones said. “It doesn’t matter when or where you are.”
History says so.
