For most of the spring, Daniel Jones sported stubble, a clear indication that his relationship with the razor was no longer a daily one.
Then, on June 11, for the start of mandatory minicamp, Jones showed up at the Giants’ team facility as a clean-shaven quarterback, his boyish look back.
When asked about brushing his teeth, he laughed sheepishly. Yesterday was photo day, he explained. “I had to brush my teeth a little bit,” he said. “I just had time to brush my teeth.”
This was the Daniel Jones the Giants knew since he arrived in 2019. Doing the right thing. Doing what was expected. When it came time for his official team headshot, Jones wasn’t going to be photographed looking like he hadn’t shaved in a week. He wanted to look neat and tidy, like an executive. Professional.
When asked if this will be the last we see of anything resembling a beard, he replied, “We’ll see what happens.”
We’re in the middle of training camp and Grizzly Jones is under center, a 27-year-old with a thick beard that gives him a, well, different look.
Does he look fiercer? Tougher? Or older? Based on the comments on social media, the new look seems to be getting positive feedback.
Does this matter? Does the full development of a face correlate to the full development of a quarterback on the field? If so, Ryan Fitzpatrick and his caveman style would be in the Hall of Fame.
It’s more a question of mindset and attitude about how Jones approaches this season. If he feels comfortable enough to play, then perhaps he will be a player with more freedom on the field.
There’s no debate about the importance of the 2024 season for Jones. It’s no exaggeration to say he’s playing for the future after being selected sixth overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. Joe Sean wasn’t general manager at the time, but he was in charge last year after signing Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract.
It was clear that Sean was looking to sign Jones to a two-year contract that the Giants can opt out of after next season with a realistic dead-cap fee of $22.1 million.
Jones has a shaky injury history (two neck injuries, a torn ACL), but he’s recovered impressively from reconstructive knee surgery this offseason. He hasn’t shown any limitations this summer. He had some good days in camp and some bad days against his own defense, but he stood tall and got the ball where it needed to be in two joint drills with the Lions. He’s scheduled to start Saturday against the Texans in Houston, where we’ll get to see Jones for the first time since his surgery.
Jones has already made an impression on the rookies: During one of the many scuffles that broke out during a joint practice last week, teammates erupted when Jones shoved a Lions defensive lineman despite coach Brian Daboll telling his quarterback to “just come out there.”
When running back Devin Singletary joined the team, having previously worked with quarterbacks Josh Allen (Bills) and C.J. Stroud (Texans), he didn’t want to have any preconceived ideas about Jones.
“I like to meet the person first before I make any decisions,” Singletary said.
And now?
“Personally, he’s a good guy,” Singletary said, “comes to work every day. Definitely a playmaker. I feel like I’m going to have a lot of fun with him this year.”
dog?
“Yeah, the way he attacks every day,” Singletary said, “the way he goes about his business in practice, on the field, you can tell he’s a really good guy.”
Singletary believes he saw that when Jones refused to back down from an altercation with Lions.
“I mean, that’s certainly one way of doing it,” Singletary said. “Obviously, we don’t want to put him in that situation, but it’s certainly an example.”
Jones admitted he didn’t enjoy or appreciate seeing on “Hard Knocks” how interested the Giants were in acquiring Louisiana State quarterback Jayden Daniels or, more realistically, North Carolina’s Drake Maye with a high pick in the 2024 draft. The episode marked a public admission that the front office and coaching staff are searching for a replacement for him.
With no trade in the cards, the Giants helped Jones by drafting wide receiver Malik Neighbors, arguably the most talented and explosive target Jones has ever played with.
The odds are stacked against Jones. He’s the fourth-most likely quarterback to be benched in the NFL this season, at 12.5 percent, according to BetColorado.com, behind only the Broncos’ Jarrett Stidham (25 percent), the Vikings’ Sam Darnold (18.2 percent) and the Patriots’ Jacoby Brissett (18.2 percent).
Still, the Giants don’t have any young players waiting in the wings as a backup — Drew Lock was signed as a backup but nothing that happened this summer has changed that assessment — and third quarterback Tommy DeVito isn’t a strong candidate to start.
As long as Jones stays healthy, this will be his team this season.
Will he show up for the season opener against the Vikings on Sept. 8 as the clean-shaven guy we’ve seen him as in the past, or will he have an edgier look? Will he let his hair grow today to avoid being gone tomorrow?
Far from home
It may seem a little odd that the Giants would make the road trip to Houston for a preseason game, but trust your instincts: It’s true.
It’s not standard procedure to go to such lengths to have summer games not counted.
From 1978 through 2019 (there were no preseason games in 2020 due to COVID-19), the Giants played four preseason games each summer. At least one was at home; one was against the Jets and did not require travel; one (usually Game 4) was against the Patriots and required regional travel; and one usually involved a short flight to Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, or Carolina, never traveling further than Florida. The Giants stayed in the Eastern Time Zone to play these exhibition games.
The Giants’ trip to Houston to face the Texans on Saturday afternoon at NRG Stadium will be unusual: It will be the first time in 30 years that the Giants have traveled from New Jersey for a preseason game.
In August 1994, the Giants spent a full week in Germany and then stopped off in Berlin for a few days of training camp practices before taking on the San Diego Chargers in the third preseason game for both teams that summer.
An unforgettable journey
The Giants’ 1994 tour was part of the NFL’s efforts to expand into international markets, and the American Bowl series, which ran from 1986 to 2005, featured at least one preseason game each year in a different country.
The Giants took their entire summer roster and visiting team to Berlin. The team practiced on the Maifeldt, a vast lawn outside Olympiapark. Games were played at the site of the 1936 Olympics.
It was an especially emotional journey for beloved former Giants radio announcer Marty Glickman, who competed on the U.S. 4×100-meter relay team in the 1936 Olympics. Glickman traveled to Berlin, but he and teammate Sam Stoller were barred from racing because they were Jewish, at the behest of Avery Brundage, the president of the U.S. Olympic Committee and a known anti-Semite.
The Giants invited Glickman along for the trip, and he sat in the stadium, pointing to the spot where Adolf Hitler and his minions once sat, and spoke in emotionless detail about being denied the opportunity to compete. On his way to wiping out Hitler’s Aryan racial supremacy, Jesse Owens won one of the United States’ four gold medals in the 4×100 relay.
The Berlin match also had other educational moments: a boat trip on the Rhine, a bus tour of Berlin and, for those interested, a visit to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, located about 25 miles outside Berlin.
On the football side of things, the Giants were in their first year after the departure of Phil Simms and were in quarterback competition mode.
With Dave Brown and Kent Graham competing for the starting job (each started the first two preseason games), head coach Dan Reeves was expected to announce his decision after the Chargers game, but on the first day in Berlin, Reeves (perhaps jet-lagged) told a Giants reporter accompanying him on the trip that Brown would “definitely, probably” become the starter after a strong performance against the Chargers.
There was one problem with the announcement: Reeves hadn’t yet told his quarterbacks that Brown would be the starter. Brown and Graham found out from reporters later that day, and awkward exchanges ensued. Reeves later admitted that he’d mishandled the move.
“I knew I shouldn’t have said that,” Reeves told reporters on the trip. “It was a big mistake. I think reporters should hear it firsthand before they read it in the paper.”
The next day, after the Giants and Chargers held a joint practice, Reeves officially named Brown the starter.
“We took everything into consideration, including the offseason program,” Reeves said. “Kent played well, but Dave played a little better.”
“We feel like we’ll have an opportunity to practice with our new No. 1 quarterback for three weeks, just like we did to start the season.”
The Giants ended their week in Berlin with a 28-20 win over the Chargers in front of 57,329 fans on a cool, windy night in Berlin. Brown started 15 games in 1994 and went 9-6 despite throwing 12 touchdown passes and recording 16 interceptions.
It was a strange and shaky season for the Giants, winning their first three games, losing their next seven, then winning their final six to finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs.
The Giants return to Germany in Week 10 of the season to take on the Panthers in Munich.
