QB Daniel Jones
October 7, 2020
Q: I think one of the popular criticisms if you want to call it that this week is maybe you were locking onto your number one receiver too much Sunday and sort of throughout your career. Do you think that’s valid? If so, how do you improve on that?
A: You’re always working on getting through your reads, understanding what the defense is doing and getting through it. It’s certainly something I work on and continue to improve on.
Q: Logan (Ryan) just got done telling us about this competition that I’m not sure you’re aware of, that he was trying to be the first one in the building and you’ve beaten him pretty much all but two times, including today. I’m just curious for you, has your preparation changed at all over the course of the year until now? How has your game to game focus changed in terms of getting everything ready, putting together your game plan and your approach from that perspective?
A: I’d say I kind of stick to the same general routine as far as when I get in and how I’m working. Each week, it changes a little bit as far as what the game plan is. Trying different things to understand and learn the game plan, get on the right page going forward. I think generally, the routine is pretty similar, but week to week, it can change.
Q: You can confirm that he actually beat you into the building today?
A: He got me today, yeah.
Q: The Cowboys obviously have had some struggles on defense all season really. What do you see there that you can take advantage of? Does having Jason (Garrett) on your side with his knowledge of their personnel, does that help more this week than maybe other weeks?
A: Yeah. Obviously, Coach Garrett is very familiar with their personnel. They’ve had some injuries and some turnover just in terms of the personnel, but his familiarity with a lot of the guys is certainly helpful when we scout them and look at them on tape. The system is different. They’re running a different defense with a different coordinator. But like you said, a lot of the personnel is similar and Coach is very familiar with those guys. So yeah, that’s helpful. As far as the plan, we’ll look to do what we do. Run the ball effectively and use that to open up things in the passing game. The defense has faced a lot of good offenses so far through the season. We’ll certainly look to come in and execute on Sunday.
Q: Do you look at this as a defense that can help get your offense right, or do you think it’s just the offense that can get it right?
A: I think we have to focus on us, and that’s certainly our mindset going in. We’ll look at what they do and understand their scheme, but it’s about how we prepare and what we do on offense going into the game.
Q: You have 16 starts, the equivalent of what would be a full NFL season. I’m wondering how do you view your progression, and where would you say you’ve kind of made the biggest strides?
A: I’ve learned a lot of football and feel like I’ve improved as a player as far as my understanding of the game, my understanding of situational football and when you want to take advantage of certain opportunities, when to get the ball out of my hand. It’s something I’m continuing to work on and improve. But I certainly feel like I’ve improved and made a lot of progress up to this point.
Q: When you look around the league, one of your classmates, Dwayne Haskins, got benched this week. Your birth certificate says you’re a young quarterback. That’s what your resume says with 16 starts. Do you still look at yourself as a young quarterback, a developing quarterback, or are you impatient and want to fast forward this whole thing?
A: I realize this is my second year and I do have a lot to learn. I’m always learning and improving. But I don’t think you use that ever as an excuse. I’m expected to play well, understand what we’re trying to do and execute it. I’m certainly learning, always learning, and trying to improve. But you can’t see it as an excuse, and I certainly don’t.
Q: I think I’ve asked you this in a previous week, but do you think this offense is aggressive enough? Do you guys push the ball down the field enough? Are you guys giving yourselves every opportunity to have an explosive passing game, or do you agree that it should be a conservative style? That you should run the ball to open up the pass?
A: I think we are aggressive. When we certainly have the shots, it’s up to us to execute those. Like you said, it all kind of hinges off each other. Every part of our offense, every piece of it is complementary in that we need each piece to help the others out. I think this offense has the capability of being explosive. Through these first four weeks, we haven’t executed that part of the offense to the level that we’re capable of doing it. Like I said, we’re capable of it and it’s certainly in the system. We’ll work to execute it.
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