Monday Media Transcript: QB Daniel Jones

QB Daniel Jones -- October 21, 2019

Q: Do you feel like you’re making progress in the last few games?
A: Yeah, I think I’ve made progress in some senses. In some plays, in certain situations, I’ve made progress, and in others, I haven’t. So, that’s the challenge, to keep making progress and to make progress throughout the game, throughout the situation, whatever it is, to continue to improve on everything.

Q: Pat (Shurmur) was saying how he thinks one of the issues is working on ball security--how do you do that? How do you take care of the football and avoid some of the fumbles and turnovers we’ve seen become an issue?
A: I think just making sure I have two hands on the ball in the pocket is a big thing, just not letting myself get lazy with that at all, just making sure I’m consistent with that. And when I’m running, keeping the ball secured, I think all those little things that you’ve heard for a long time that are just kind of fundamental to anyone holding the ball I think are things that I need to do better.

Q: Have you looked back at your turnovers and said, “There’s an example where I didn’t have two hands on the ball, there’s an example where I was loose with the ball?” Sometimes there’s a blind side hit and there’s nothing you can do about it, but are there enough issues there that you can look at it and say, “That’s the reason?”
A: Yeah, I think so. I mean, you want to avoid all of those. I think if you have one, it’s too many. So, I think yeah, I’ve just got to do a better job of all of that.

Q: On the first one, did you feel him coming? Were you thinking that you just had time to let that screen develop, or did you not feel that he was that close?
A: I felt him. Yeah, I thought I could get it off, or else I wouldn’t have tried to. But yeah, that’s something I’ve got to feel better and sense better and get rid of it quicker.

Q: A lot of young quarterbacks say that they feel a need to make a play on every play. Do you have a timer in your mind where if something’s not there, you have to get rid of it? Or is that something maybe you don’t think about when you’re out there?
A: No, I think that’s important to always have that in mind, and I think I need to do a better job in a lot of cases of just sensing when that timer is going off or when maybe I do have an extra half-second. I think kind of just developing that, continuing to learn in those situations, and I’ll be using that to help me progress and help me in the next situation. So, yeah, I think I need to do a better job with it.

Q: Do you get down on a day like today? Do you need to be picked up a little bit?
A: I mean, I’d say we’re all disappointed. When we put a lot into it, we expect to win. I think we’re all disappointed, but Coach (Shurmur) has said it before, we’re not discouraged, we’re not at all going to allow it to affect this week’s preparation and what we look forward to getting done this week.

Q: What’s it been like watching the film the last couple weeks?
A: You never like to watch film when you’re losing, but there’s stuff to learn from it.

Q: Are there plays to be made that when you look at the film you sit there and say, “Yeah, now I see it?”
A: Yeah, there’s always going to be a few of those. Yesterday there were certainly a few. So, just trying to learn from those, understanding when those opportunities are going to be there and what you can see to get you there in the progression or help you see it earlier.

Q: What do you think you’re doing better now than a month ago?
A: I think there are certain throws, certain areas in just managing the offense that I understand better and I’m doing better, but the challenge is to do everything better.

Q: Coach Shurmur said that the touchdown to (Rhett) Ellison was a new play. So, when you execute a new play and score big with a touchdown, is that something you put in your memory bank and say, “That’s a good one?”
A: Yeah, I think we run a lot of new stuff every week as part of the game plan, it’s a lot of what we do. So, yeah, good to be able to execute that.

Q: Have you ever had a stretch in terms of ball security in your career where things just seem to be going against you, and if so, how do you attack it? How do you go after it? Is it a film study thing, or do you just live through it?
A: I think just working on it and making sure I’m always mindful of it. I think the situations when you’re not thinking about it, you just kind of lose focus on that and start worrying about something else, like I said, letting yourself get lazy with it or holding the ball too long, I think it’s kind of those situations where you need to remind yourself. You need to kind of practice that throughout the week, I think that’s big, so you do it naturally and it’s something you don’t have to think about as much. But yeah, I think that’ll definitely be a focus of mine this week.

Q: Will you do more ball security drills this week, or will you do the same amount this week, or different ones?
A: I would imagine I’ll do more.

Q: Do you feel any pain after being sacked eight times, or is it just how you got hit that registers the pain? If you get hit hard once, is it any worse than getting sacked eight times?
A: Not really, I think it just depends on the hit. I feel fine today.

Q: How do you rate as a run blocker?
A: Not great (laughter). It needs improvement.

Q: You will not be practicing that a lot this week?
A: I don’t think so, no.

Q: Who do you turn to when you have football struggles? Is there someone you reach out to?
A: Not necessarily, I think certainly here with Coach Shurmur, Coach Shula, Eli (Manning) and Alex (Tanney), all those guys who I’ve worked with a lot and have helped me a lot, so I’ll continue to lean on them and learn from them.

Q: A lot of guys in this locker room have talked about how from the moment you stepped in here, the idea of being aggressive is one thing they like about you, it’s one of your best qualities. Is it a fine line between being too aggressive at times, or is that part of this whole struggle, you don’t want to lose what you do really well, but also you want to focus on what needs to improve?
A: Yeah, I think that’s constantly something to evaluate and to improve and understand how you can do better--when to try and take advantage of opportunities and when to be smart, take care of the ball, throw it away, or whatever. I think just kind of understanding that, learning from when you don’t do it well and using that to help you the next time. So, yeah, I think there’s plenty of room for improvement there.

Q: Obviously you’re not the first rookie quarterback to have a rough patch—do you take any comfort in the fact that plenty of guys have gone through a stretch like this and come out better on the other end?
A: Yeah, I don’t know if I’ve thought about that a whole lot, I think kind of the focus right now is to improve, is to fix what we need to do better, and try to get back on track this week. But yeah, I’m certainly confident in myself, I’m confident in the team that we will fix it and hopefully get back on track this week.

Q: You have a guy in the room who went through that—Eli when he was a rookie.
A: Yeah, so I think like you said, there’s plenty to learn from everyone who I’ve mentioned—Coach Shurmur, Coach Shula, Alex and Eli, all those guys. So, like I said, looking forward to getting back on track this week.

Q: Has this experience matched your expectations at all? Did you know what it would be like going through this?
A: I think I didn’t have a whole lot of expectations for this. I didn’t obviously expect to be in this position, and I don’t know. I think, like I said, we’re not going to lose confidence and I’m confident that we will fix what we need to and get back on track.