Daniel Jones played through injury in Giants' 31-13 loss to Packers

The rookie quarterback threw three interceptions and attempted five rushes

12/2/2019, 2:19 AM
Dec 1, 2019; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; 
New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) under pressure from the Packers in the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Deutsch
Dec 1, 2019; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones (8) under pressure from the Packers in the fourth quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports / Robert Deutsch

Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones played through an ankle injury in Sunday's 31-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

On 4th-and-1 near midfield from the Giants' 49 near the nine-minute mark of the second quarter, Jones ran up the middle for two yards to the Packers' 49 for the first down.

But on the way down, Packers linebacker Preston Smith landed on Jones' right ankle as linebacker Blake Martinez recorded the tackle, which left Jones hobbled for more than two quarters.

Coupled with sloppy conditions as snow and rain fell from the sky at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Jones struggled on the ground and through the air.

In his 10th career NFL start, Jones completed 20 of 37 passes (54.1 percent) for 240 yards and one touchdown to three interceptions, gaining six yards on five rushing attempts, as the Giants (2-10) got run out by the Packers (9-3).

After the game, second-year head coach Pat Shurmur said that the rookie quarterback hurt the right ankle but played through the injury, one he described as "sore."

 

"I hurt it on that fourth down play right there," Jones said. "It's sore, but that's part of playing the game. I'll be fine."

But neither Jones nor Shurmur made excuses about the way the offense was unable to sustain scoring drives, despite out-gaining the Packers with 335 total yards to Green Bay's 322.

"No, there were certain things that I chose not to do with him," Shurmur said. "The interception, the one interception there in the fourth quarter when he had the guy, that's one that he'll tell you he just overthrew it."

Jones nearly lost one fumble as well, but the Giants recovered that loose ball. 

"I think each play is independent of the other in terms of the issue," Jones said. "I missed one (throw) and (had) a couple poor decisions. That has to do with me more than anything."

As the Giants keep an eye on Jones' improvement, they get back to work for their Week 14 game next Monday against the Eagles (5-7) at 8:15 p.m. from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

"I talked to him on the sideline (and said), 'Hey, it happened,'" said running back Saquon Barkley. "Everyone wants to go out there and play their best game, but that's not the case. He threw the picks, that's growing pains and things you will learn from. I know I said earlier in the week, I think he is going to be a special player. I don't think … I know he is going to be a special player. I still think he made a lot of plays for us out there and put us in positions to win the game.

"Those plays are growing pains and he is going to learn from it. Eli (Manning) went through it, I'm pretty sure Aaron Rodgers went through it at one point. Any great quarterback you can think of, I'm pretty sure they went through it. He has to keep sticking with it and the type of mindset he has and the type of grit he has, he is going to figure it out.

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