What Daniel Jones is learning with eyes glued on Eli Manning
Daniel Jones is adhering to a Yogi Berra doctrine when it comes to developing as an NFL quarterback as a teammate of Eli Manning.
Berra once said, “You can observe a lot just by watching,” and Jones is keeping his eyes fixed squarely on the 38-year-old Giants icon, hoping to soak up as much knowledge as he can from the veteran Manning, entering his 16th season.
“I think you can learn a lot from him on the field, obviously, from a scheme standpoint, he’s done it for a long time, he knows that stuff,” the rookie quarterback said Tuesday after organized team activity practice No. 4, out on the grass and in the rain. “To me, I think a lot of it is in his routine and in his daily preparation, how he prepares for practice, how he reviews practice and learns from practice. Just that routine and being able to watch him every day for me has been the most helpful.’’
This is what so many young quarterbacks say when they enter Manning’s orbit. It is not so much Manning putting an arm around the shoulder or sitting down for a tutorial. It is simply spending time with Manning inside the building — in the quarterback meeting room, in the locker room, on the field, in the weight room — gleaning any hint possible to unlock the secret of his durability and professionalism.
What Jones has found most beneficial a few weeks on the job is the way Manning prepares for practice each day, specifically how he attacks the script of plays to be run that particular session.
“The way he’ll go through all his assignments, the way he’ll draw it out and after practicing, reviewing it and watching the film,” Jones said.
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“You really want to have an awareness of what everyone’s doing. Just getting the script beforehand and understanding that, preparing for that is different, I didn’t really do that a whole lot at Duke.”
The Giants made Jones the No. 6 overall pick in the draft because they believe in his talent and certainly his smarts. They could not be sure of the latter, though, until they brought him in and put him to work this spring.
“You never totally know where a player is when you get him,” coach Pat Shurmur said.
Several weeks into the process, Shurmur and the Giants know more about their rookie quarterback than they did before. Clearly, there are similarities between Jones and Manning — and not only the physical that is easy to spot.
“Personality-wise, I would say in some ways they are similar,” Shurmur said. “As we get to know Daniel Jones and his personality more, they’re very calm in their approach. But they’ve very fiery under the covers. I don’t think you want to misrepresent either one of them, because both are very fiery about making sure things are done properly, they demand it of themselves and they demand it of the people around them.”
Describing Manning as “fiery” is not a common approach, but all his coaches point to a behind-the-scenes competitiveness that drives him forward. Jones arrived with a near-identical reputation from his days at Duke.
“He obviously has a great foundation for playing the position,” Shurmur said. “He was ready to compete when he got here, it was just a matter of learning how we do it here.”
Jones is working with the second-team offense, with Manning getting the reps with the starters. No one is expecting Jones to operate as if he is an established NFL veteran, but there are benchmarks he must hit in his first spring with the Giants.
”When he’s in there, it needs to look like football,” Shurmur said. “He needs to execute well, get completions and still drive the ball down the field and make the proper run checks and all the things necessary for a quarterback. I see him getting better each day. I see a guy who’s getting himself right.”
In some ways, coming to the Giants has already aged Jones, who turned 22 on Monday. He said he “went into the city a couple of times” over the weekend and characterized his birthday celebration as “cool.”
Jones described his budding relationship with Manning as “great,” saying, “He’s been very helpful for me and I’ve certainly learned a lot.”
Jones said he does not sense any awkwardness at all — Jones was brought in to one day replace Manning — and called the quarterback room, which also includes Alex Tanney and Kyle Lauletta, “a great room.”
