Brian Daboll Apparently Scripted Plays In Training Camp That Would Make Daniel Jones Look Bad And Tyrod Taylor Look Good So He Could See How Mentally Tough Jones Was (Who Clearly Passed With Flying Colors)
Go Long- How exactly does a head coach go about building a team around “tough-minded” individuals, as he likes to say?
Start at the position that will decide the fate of any team until the end of time. Into this 2022 season, the new regime stuck with Daniel Jones on a one-year trial basis. They declined his fifth-year option for 2023, but believed Jones was talented enough to be the starter in Year 1 of a rebuild. Veteran Tyrod Taylor was added for insurance. The Giants were obviously choosing to punt this franchise-defining decision down the road, a fiscally smart maneuver considering fired GM Dave Gettleman left the roster in financial ruins. There was no need to anoint anyone. Not yet. But Daboll also knew this: He needed to test Jones’ mental toughness.
So, when training camp began, he devised a plan. As one source close to the coach explained, Daboll purposely structured practice for Jones to fail and Taylor to succeed. “He wanted Daniel Jones to deal with the adversity,” this source explained. “He wanted to see how he dealt with it on a daily basis. And he passed it with flying colors. So, I know he loves Daniel Jones. “He loves Daniel Jones. He loves him.”
Practices are always scripted. Daboll would tell defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale which plays he’d be running when Jones was in the game, this source explains, and had Martindale call defensive plays that’d intentionally work. And when Taylor entered? Exact opposite. Plays were scripted on both sides to set him up for success.
Jones did not flinch. Daboll was thrilled.
Since Daniel Jones has been getting his flowers over the last 18 hours or so after clinching a playoff berth for the Giants, I figured I'd get in on the ball washing as someone that's been riding The Danwagon since Day 1 by sharing this column I read on Go Long over the weekend (full column and podcast about Danny Dimes here).
So it turns out the media ripping Daniel Jones' performance in the early days of training camp wasn't just because his overmatched offense was getting shredded by a talented defense being called by a blitzing maniac. It's because said blitzing maniac was also given the answer key to every play and was told to exploit it in order to see if the QB1 would crack.
Now any unbiased Giants fan that isn't still bitter the Giants didn't draft Sam Darnold, Dwayne Haskins, or Josh fucking Rosen years ago or mortgaged their entire future for Russell Wilson would admit that the one part of Daniel Jones you couldn't criticize was his toughness. I'm talking physical toughness after getting his ass kicked and his neck literally broken behind a dogshit offensive line as well as his mental toughness by having his plays called by jamokes like Mike Shula, Jason Garrett, and Freddie Kitchens. The fact Daniel Jones didn't call it a career at some point over the last three years of ineptitude by his coaches, teammates, and front office is as much an indicator of his character as anything else.
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Then again, Duke got Daniel Jones more ready for life as a Giant under Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge than anything else could have.
Anyway, back to the summer. I remember a bunch of fans and a few media members asking for Tyrod Taylor to replace Daniel Jones after these reports came out. Well they finally got their wish yesterday, just not in the way they thought it would happen.
While the coach seems to be pretty happy with the QB he tested over the summer.
That QB's teammates seem to agree as well.
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The numbers also aren't too shabby considering Danny's receiving corps is essentially practice squadders and the offensive line has been meh at best outside of Andrew Thomas, who had his own group of critics that are eating crow every Sunday now.
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Shout out the Daniel Jones Hype Group for knowing our little lamb was the truth before he had a coach that knew his ass from his elbow. Nobody deserves this run more than you guys. Actually I guess Daniel does. But we are definitely second.
Time to load up on gear for the playoffs!