It sure sounds like Giants are fully finished with Daniel Jones, after mental error in loss to Steelers

PITTSBURGH — The Giants tried hard this past offseason to divorce Daniel Jones.
They wanted to trade up for a quarterback — Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels.
But ultimately, they weren’t in position to draft either guy — because they got too many meaningless wins late last season, closing 4-3 after a 2-8 start.
After Monday night’s 26-18 loss at the Steelers — in which Jones’ offense managed just one touchdown — it sure sounded like the Giants are fully finished with Jones.
They’re heading straight for drafting — or trying to draft — a quarterback to replace him next spring. (So they better hope they keep losing.) The only question now is when the Giants will put Jones in bubble wrap, to avoid his 2025 injury guarantee.
Jones’ contract — essentially a two-year, $82 million deal — will go down as one of the worst decisions in franchise history. Yet it seems as though general manager Joe Schoen will get a fourth season (and a shot at a new quarterback) nonetheless.
The Giants are now 2-6 this season. So they’re 3-11 in Jones’ starts since he got that contract. How is that even possible?
Well, through a series of small mistakes that add up to bigger problems. And coach Brian Daboll — who came to East Rutherford with a reputation for molding quarterbacks — didn’t hesitate much after Monday’s game while detailing one such mistake.
Bottom line, as Daboll revealed in his postgame press conference: Jones screwed up on T.J. Watt’s game-sealing strip sack.
The Giants, down 26-18, had third-and-7 from the Steelers’ 19-yard line with 3:04 left. Then Watt burst into the backfield — past right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor — for that strip sack.
So what happened?
Jones messed up. That’s what happened — as Daboll noted after the game, while sounding rather resigned about his quarterback’s limitations.
Why didn’t the Giants chip block Watt on that play?
“He was supposed to be chipped,” Daboll said.
Oh, OK. So why wasn’t he?
“D.J. was looking at coverage, communication,” Daboll said. “But Jermaine was anticipating a chip.”
With each question about the play, Daboll was willing to reveal more.
“We had a shift with the tight end to get back over to Watt — and we didn’t get the shift,” Daboll said. “We talked about it in the locker room [afterward]. D.J. feels terrible. I know he’s going to own it. There was a shift that was accompanying the play. [Jones] was surveying the coverage, deciding what he wanted to do. And we didn’t get the shift.”
Translation: Jones had a brain fart.
Daboll did make a point to praise Jones’ effort — while noting that he fumbled the ball away and threw an interception on the final two drives.
“He cares,” Daboll said. “He works his butt off. There’s no one in this locker room that takes it harder than him. He played hard. I thought he did a lot of good things. Unfortunately, at the end of the game there, we had a couple turnovers. But I thought he played extremely hard. That’s what you want from your quarterback.”
You also want a quarterback who can do all of the many things Jones cannot. Which is why Jones will soon be out the door.
Not that there was much doubt about that before Monday. But after another offensive dud (and more Jones turnovers), Daboll’s press conference made it fully clear.
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Darryl Slater may be reached at [email protected].