Giants QB Daniel Jones Takes Responsibility for Critical Mistake vs. Steelers

Getty New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones admitted to a crucial error after the Week 8 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Late in the fourth quarter of the Week 8 Monday Night Football matchup between the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the NYG offense was handed great field position after a fumble by Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson.

Unfortunately, that possession ended in zero points, as Giants quarterback Daniel Jones fumbled the ball right back to Pittsburgh after a strip sack by superstar pass rusher T.J. Watt that occurred on a third and seven from the Steelers’ 19-yard line.

“Yeah, I needed to shift [a blocker over on that play],” Jones admitted to reporters after the game. “I needed to shift [rookie tight end] Theo [Johnson]. Was looking at the coverage, I didn’t shift him. [Right tackle] Jermaine [Eluemunor is] expecting a chip, so he didn’t get that, and so that’s my fault.”

It’s always nice to hear an athlete accept full responsibility when a mistake is made, and Jones did that here. Having said that, the signal-caller also acknowledged that Big Blue supporters don’t necessarily care about his admission of guilt.

“It’s frustrating, for sure,” the Giants QB said. “Very frustrating.”

“We hurt ourselves a lot tonight, and that’s the most frustrating part about it,” he went on. “So, we’ve got to be more detailed, starting with me, and some of the good stuff that happened was negated by those mistakes.”

Later, Jones clarified that he was specifically “frustrated with coming up short again,” but he also added that “no one really cares that [the team] is frustrated,” pointing out that fans only care about what the Giants are going to do next and how they plan to “fix” their issues.

Giants HC Brian Daboll Defends Daniel Jones After Mental Miscue Prior to T.J. Watt Strip Sack

While speaking at the podium after the loss, Giants head coach Brian Daboll confirmed that Johnson was supposed to chip-block Watt on the play in question. He was not willing to throw his quarterback under the bus, however.

“Well, he’s a heck of a player,” Daboll began on Watt. “They moved him to the left side sometimes, we had some shifts, and we were trying to do some things to get the tight end to the appropriate side. I thought our guys battled, [but] he’s going to make some plays.”

Later, when pressed further on the strip sack in particular, the Giants HC revealed that Watt “was supposed to be chipped” on that play.

“[Jones] was looking at the coverage, communication [broke down], but Jermaine [Eluemunor] was anticipating the chip,” he explained without attaching much blame. He then went on to defend Jones when asked about the play for a third time.

“No, it wasn’t a check. [Jones] was going, pressure situation [with the] clock. We had a shift with the tight end to get back over to Watt and we didn’t get the shift [off],” Daboll concluded. “We talked about it in the locker room, [Jones] feels terrible to be honest with you. And I know he’s going to own it… But it was a shift that was accompanying the play.”

Based on Daboll’s final explanation, which continued on a bit further, the fault did seemingly lie with Jones — who failed to shift Johnson back over to the correct side as he was reading the defense.

“There’s no one in this locker room that takes it harder than [Jones],” Daboll reminded later in the press conference. “He played hard… competitive, fiery, and that’s what you want from your quarterback.”

Giants Called on to Bench Daniel Jones ‘for Good’ After Week 8

Not everyone was so forgiving of Jones, who finished 24-of-38 passing with 264 yards, zero touchdowns, an interception, a fumble and a QBR of 38.7 out of 100.

“It’s time for the Giants to bench Daniel Jones for good,” SNY’s Connor Hughes posted after the game. Beginning the accompanying article: “It’s over. Done. What else do you need to see? It’s been five years of the same excruciatingly painful reality slapping the Giants in the face on a near weekly basis. You’d think that would be enough to make them realize the one season of baseline competence was nothing more than an accident, but here they are.”

Hughes went on to write that Jones “lost” the Giants the game versus the Steelers, citing his two late-game turnovers as evidence of that.

“The Jones Era with the Giants needs to end,” he continued later. “Is Drew Lock the right answer? Tommy DeVito? That’s unclear. But it’s time for New York to own up to the fact Jones is very clearly the wrong one.”

After a lot of conjecture, Hughes eventually concluded that “a change is long overdue.”