Daniel Jones has perfect first drive for Giants

The Giants could not have scripted the Daniel Jones debut any better if they allowed general manager Dave Gettleman to submit a screenplay.

The rookie quarterback subbed for starter Eli Manning with 7:59 remaining in the first quarter of Thursday night’s preseason game against the Jets. What followed was the blueprint for that the franchise hopes will be a sign of exploits to come.

Jones flashed the potential the Giants insist he oozes after making him the No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. He went 5 for 5 for 67 yards on a perfect drive he capped off with pinpoint 12-yard touchdown pass to Bennie Fowler in the right corner of the end zone. Fowler beat safety Santos Ramirez, secured the ball and then promptly handed it back to Jones for safekeeping.

Manning started but this was a complete cameo appearance. He was in for one series — a brief series too reminiscent of some of the shoddy 2018 work of the first-team offense. Manning completed his only pass attempt, a three-yard gain to tight end Scott Simonson. The third-and-eight call was a give-up draw play to Wayne Gallman and the three-and-out prompted a few boos from the sparse crowd.

The boos turned into polite applause when Jones trotted in. How eager was he? He rushed in and out of the huddle and got the offense up to the line of scrimmage, but the game was paused for a commercial, and do Jones had to re-huddle. Eagerness should not be confused with anxiety, though, as the 22-year old showed nerves of steel as he hit the field and did not leave until he put the Giants in the end zone and points on the board.

True to his word, coach Pat Shurmur did not baby Jones, allowing him to come to come out firing. The Jets took their starting defense out after the one series against Manning, leaving Jones to operate against Jets backups.

He hit Cody Latimer for five yards and Golden Tate for 11 yards on a quick strike over the middle. Off a play-fake, Jones got to air it out a bit and lofted a completion to Latimer good for 31 yards. Jones on third-and-7 found Fowler on the right sideline and hit him for eight yards, with Fowler beating Trent Cannon and Jones putting the ball exactly where it needed to go. Jones then tossed his scoring pass to Fowler.

With 1:23 left in the first quarter, a threat of severe weather prompted an announcement for the fans to leave the outdoor seating bowl area for shelter inside. The teams headed into the locker rooms and a few minutes later thunder, lightning and rain hit.

Credit: Source link

The post Daniel Jones has perfect first drive for Giants appeared first on Fox USA Live.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/33pZtNY