Daniel Jones enters the 2024 season under an all-too familiar label, as many are once again declaring the upcoming season a “prove-it year” for the Giants quarterback.
With Big Blue holding an escape hatch in Jones’ contract after this season, the team could theoretically cut ties with their starting quarterback once the year is over, and make a change under center for the first time since Jones was drafted sixth overall in 2019.
Does that change anything about Jones’ approach heading into the season? As he told Boomer and Gio from Giants camp on Tuesday, not much has to change given how several of his seasons have been labeled since arriving in New York.
“I think you’re always trying to prove yourself,” Jones said. “I think even after the playoff season in 2022, you get the contract, and a lot of people have things to say about the contract. I think you’re still trying to prove yourself. You’re always trying to prove yourself. I think that’s kind of the nature of the NFL in a lot of ways.
“My preparation and how I view the season and getting ready for it...it’s always of the mindset that I’m trying to prove myself.”
Jones’ 2022 campaign felt like a prove-it year, as the Giants didn’t pick up his fifth-year option before the season, meaning the quarterback was potentially playing for his job. He aced that test with a career year and a win on the road in the playoffs against the Vikings, leading to a $160 million contract, which Jones believed led to another prove-it season. So, he is keeping things status quo and playing like he always has something to prove, and based on the noise around him, that is precisely the case.
“I don’t listen to it. I don’t seek it out or pay much attention to it,” Jones said of that outside chatter. “I think you get a sense of what’s being said by interactions after press conferences...but I don’t seek it out. I’m focused on what I’m doing. You have to be able to do that in the NFL, especially in New York.”
Despite Jones’ injuries and mediocre play outside of that 2022 campaign, there are those who still express belief in his potential, and those are the voices Jones chooses to focus on as he enters yet another “prove-it year.”
“I get more questions about the negative and how I handle that...but there’s been a lot of support and people have had my back,” Jones said. “I appreciate that. To me, that’s more motivating and more inspiring than proving people wrong, is proving those people right.”