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Should the Giants remove Daniel Jones against the Cowboys?
Eli Manning joins The Pat McAfee Show to explain why Brian Daboll decided to leave Daniel Jones out for the game against the Dallas Cowboys.
With Parsons leading the charge, Dallas sacked Jones seven times and constantly pressured New York’s quarterback in Sunday night’s 40-0 blowout.
But despite the lopsided score and their inability to handle the Cowboys’ pass rush, the Giants kept Jones in the game until their final possession — a decision that drew widespread criticism.
“It’s called protecting your man — something I thought the Giants should have done,” Parsons said Tuesday on his podcast “The Edge with Micah Parsons.” “I don’t think Daniel Jones should have been on that play in the fourth quarter.
“I thought they should have protected him and taken him out. Barring an injury, their season would have been over without Daniel Jones.”
Jones struggled in his first regular season game since signing a four-year, $160 million contract in March. He completed just 15 of 28 passes and had two interceptions while being harassed throughout by the Cowboys, who pressured Jones on 55% from 42 drop points.
Parsons had a prior view of the wreck. The two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher had a sack, a tackle for loss and two more hits on Jones. It was the worst season-opening loss in franchise history, and the fans at MetLife Stadium loudly booed the Giants as they walked off the field at halftime with a 26-0 lead. The second half was no better for New York, which pulled several other key players — including star cornerback Saquon Barkley — despite leaving Jones in the game.
“I don’t agree with Daniel Jones staying there until that last trip, I thought that was a mistake,” Parsons said. “I thought this was disingenuous.
“This is your franchise quarterback, and he’s out there with a backup offensive lineman who’s still getting sacked and getting beat up. I don’t get it. Maybe it was a prove-it moment by the Giants — I have no idea — a lesson learned from him. “Who knows. But I thought Daniel Jones should have been withdrawn.”
When coach Brian Daboll was asked Sunday why Jones was still in the game with the outcome already decided, he said New York was simply trying to “get something positive.” Jones also stressed that he “wants to stay” in the game and said “there has been no talk” about sacking him.
But Parsons clearly didn’t buy that response and cited the Bengals’ decision to pull quarterback Joe Burrow from Sunday’s loss to the Browns.
“Bengals [made] “The smart decision to pull Joe Burrow and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to quit, we’re going to take our loss, and we’re going to move on to next week and be better,’” the All-Pro said. “That’s the best thing you can do.”
