The good news for the New York Giants is quarterback Daniel Jones has thrown the ball very well in both preseason games.
Unlike fellow top rookie pick Kyler Murray, who struggled Thursday for the Arizona Cardinals, Jones followed up his strong preseason debut with another mostly sharp performance. When Jones was with the starters Friday night against the Chicago Bears, he completed all four passes, including a 40-yard strike to Cody Latimer. Later in the first half, he had a great pass to T.J. Jones in the end zone for a 15-yard score. Jones, who was lifted at halftime, finished the first half 11-of-14 for 161 yards and generally played very well.
That was positive. But it wasn’t perfect.
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Jones, the sixth pick of the draft, also lost two fumbles. He’ll need to work on that ball security going forward. But the rest looked good, and he bounced back nicely from his mistakes.
Daniel Jones has a pair of turnovers
Last week Jones might have been the biggest revelation of all preseason games. He was 5-of-5 for 67 yards and a touchdown. His passes had zip and accuracy. He looked like, well, what you’d expect from the sixth pick in the draft.
Jones started his second preseason outing with some nice throws. His first pass was a dart to Bennie Fowler to convert a second-and-14 into a first down. To start the second quarter, Jones made a great deep pass to Latimer down the left sideline. Latimer went up over the cornerback for a fantastic catch and a 40-yard gain.
However, that possession ended with Jones mishandling a snap and losing a fumble.
On the Giants’ next possession, Jones came out with backups. He threw his first incompletion, after eight straight completions to start the preseason, and then another.
Jones lost another fumble later, when the pass rush got to him and he was stripped of the ball. He’ll need to be more aware and secure the ball in the future. But he’s a rookie, and he’s still learning.
Jones relieved an efficient Eli Manning
Jones bounced back from the two fumbles to complete some more nice passes. He had a solid touch pass on a crossing route to Brittan Golden that Golden turned upfield for a nice gain on a third down. Then late in the first half he had the accurate touchdown pass to T.J. Jones.
Eli Manning played well too, in his one series of work. He started and completed all four passes for 40 yards and a touchdown. He threw an 8-yard touchdown on a slant route to Fowler, and his night was done.
There’s no question Manning will start Week 1, barring a strange turn of events. But Jones continues to show that he’ll be interesting to watch whenever he gets his chance.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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