New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones hasn't had it easy since signing his four-year, $160 extension after helping lead his squad to the NFC Divisional Round in the 2022 playoffs.
He was on pace for noticeable regression across the board in 2023 after the best year of his career in 2022. Unfortunately for the Giants offense, Jones' downswing continued in a joint practice with the New York Jets on Wednesday. That left two-time first-team All-Pro Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner at a loss for words when asked to describe the Giants quarterback post-practice, a session the Jets dominated.
One of Jones' longtime targets in wide receiver Darius Slayton, also a member of the Giants' 2019 draft class, had a problem with Gardner's comments, specifically when Gardner said he didn't know what to say when trying to describe his quarterback.
"I don't know what his intent was," Slayton said on Thursday, per the New York Daily News. "I think I saw a tweet he said maybe he got distracted or something like that and that's why he paused. But whatever it was, regardless ... it's easy to say negative things once there's a negative narrative around a person. But it doesn't always make it -- well, in this case it doesn't make it true. Nor does he see him on a day-in, day-out basis."
Daniel Jones last 2 seasons
| 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
W-L | 9-6-1 | 1-5* |
TD-INT | 15-5 | 2-6 |
Pass Yards/Att | 6.8 | 5.7 |
Passer Rating | 92.5 | 70.5 |
* 2023 season cut short by torn ACL
Slayton also blamed being in New York, the largest media market in the United States, in addition to regularly playing primetime football, for the negativity surrounding Jones while taking shots at other young quarterbacks who have received large contracts lately in Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (five years, $275 million) and Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (five years, $262.5 million).
"I think because we play in prime time a lot, we're media-covered a lot, we're the Giants," Slayton said. "If we were the Jaguars, like you don't hear anybody say anything about Trevor Lawrence. Or Justin Herbert, for that matter. Matter of fact, if you ask most people about Justin Herbert, they'd probably tell you that he's a top-five quarterback, but under what logic? Can you really make a case for that, that he's a top-five quarterback? You just believe he's [Herbert] capable of that because you see the big arm, basically that he's big, he's tall, he has a rocket of an arm. You assume his processing is good. You assume he's smart and all these things. You don't actually know, though."
In Herbert's defense, there are numbers to back up his praise. He has the most completions (1,613) and passing yards (17,223) in a player's first four seasons in NFL history while his 114 career passing touchdowns are tied with Patrick Mahomes for the second-most in a player's first four seasons in NFL history, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino (142). Yet, Slayton believes other young, developing quarterbacks whom have been paid don't face the same scrutiny Jones does.
"The thing with the money is, that's what quarterbacks get paid," Slayton said. "You don't see anybody talking about Derek Carr. And I actually think Derek Carr's a good quarterback. But I'm just saying, what did the Saints do? Derek Carr could do something bad three weeks in a row and you would hear nothing about it. I don't even know what he did this preseason. I don't know if he's played good or bad this preseason. But D.J. is on Good Morning Football. It's just not the same. But it is what it is."
Slayton understandably isn't a Saints fan, but if he read even a sampling of their local coverage, he would be aware of the reporting regarding Carr's uneven first season in New Orleans. Sure, he may have a point that Giants players get more attention, but the attention can be positive to the point that it masks some flaw's a player may have. Look at Eli Manning. He helped win the Giants two Super Bowls, so there isn't much talk about how his other four career postseason appearances across 16 NFL seasons all ended with opening-round losses.
The only way for Slayton and Jones to quiet the noise is simple, to quote the late Raiders owner Al Davis: "Just win baby."