New York Giants coach Brian Daboll didn’t mince his words after the Giants’ recent preseason game, emphasizing how crucial turnovers are to the team’s performance.
“It’s hard to win a game when you lose the ball five times,” Daboll said. “You don’t give yourself much of a chance when you lose the ball.”
Quarterback Daniel Jones threw two interceptions, one of them a pick-6 from his own end zone, and the Giants lost three fumbles.
About Daniel Jones’ game
A significant portion of Daboll’s postgame remarks focused on starting quarterback Daniel Jones and his decisions during the game, particularly the first interception.
“He (Daniel Jones) went left and made a bad decision, went back,” Daboll said, referring to a play-action pass that resulted in an interception. When asked what Jones should have done differently, Daboll spoke openly about the evaluation process. “I’ll go back and look at it and evaluate it. That’s what these games are for.”
Despite the early loss of possession, Daboll emphasized that Jones managed to end the half with a positive result.
“It was good to finish that drive with a touchdown,” Daboll said. “One of the plans was to call some plays, throw some long balls today to see how our line works, drop him back, apply a little pressure when it gets going and try to drive the ball down the field, which was a focus. So good for him to hit ‘Slay’ (Darius Slayton).”
Daboll reiterated that the preseason is a critical evaluation period for the entire team, including Jones.
“Part of it is an evaluation, but … it’s a little different than a regular season game,” he said. “There are some good things, it’s good to have him out here, and then there are a few things we’ll learn from.”
The game of defense.
While the problems on offense were the main focus, Daboll also addressed the defensive performance. He noted that the turnovers put the defense in difficult situations, but there were still positives to take away.
“This is a good football team. They came together in the red zone and made another fourth down stop against their first unit,” Daboll said.
