Daniel Jones needs to show he’s Giants’ $40 million man — or else

LANDOVER, Md. — One game, a Game for the Rages, has the vultures circling over Daniel Jones, smelling the blood of Dead Quarterback Walking. 

Only Brian Daboll knows whether he is, or when he soon will be, but if this is the last stand for Jones, he must get off the mat, and get off the mat now, and play with no fear Sunday against the Commanders, and let it rip like there is no tomorrow. 

The quarterback played scared on the opener, and when the coach senses that his quarterback is playing scared, he will coach scared of his quarterback, and that is always a recipe for disaster. 

Jones deserves better than pariah status among the angry fan base, a fan base that cares mostly about gameday and not that he dedicated himself to overcome his torn ACL, and win the respect and admiration of his organization and teammates. 

No head coach with the courage of his convictions will allow his fan base or media scrutiny or social media venom to dictate any quarterback change, because it can rightfully be construed as panic. 

But once the quarterback becomes the main cause of losing, and it becomes obvious to the locker room, all bets are off, and the head coach must act. 

There is no question it would behoove Jones to author a statement game to at least grant him a stay of execution if he, indeed, would need one, because another Game for the Rages would render his leash that much shorter than it may be now. 

“It’s an 11-man operation on offense,” assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said. 

But if the one man at quarterback falters, the operation falters with it. 

Jones was deigned the successor to Eli Manning in large part for his mental toughness in the face of adversity and a temperament that is built for euphoria-disaster New York, and it is his battle now to stand tall in the pocket and avoid having any self-fulfilling prophecy pick-six him. 

“I don’t think his confidence has ever wavered since I’ve been here,” Kafka said. 

Remember too: Daboll assumed play-calling duties this season, and his elite reputation takes a hit if Jones cannot get his team in the end zone. 

GM Joe Schoen, by not paying Saquon Barkley and by drafting Malik Nabers with the sixth pick of the draft, essentially placed the football in the quarterback’s hands. In a quarterback-driven league, the Giants were hoping, maybe against hope, that Jones, behind a sturdier offensive line, could drive them with his first true No. 1 receiver, and fastest and best receiving room he has had in his six seasons. 

And if he can’t, because of the escape hatch on Jones’s contract after this season, someone else will be driving the 2025 Giants. 

Schoen was telling the $40 million Quarterback in no uncertain terms: It’s your show. 

Showtime. 

Remind us why we showed you the money in the expectation that you would be an ascending quarterback after your 2022 playoff win in Minnesota. 

Or else. 

Or else we will have no choice but to move on. 

Daboll is intent on an explosive vertical attack, and Jones showed up against the Vikings resembling a backup in survival mode. 

Daboll’s challenge during the week was standing by his quarterback and keeping his confidence from flagging, and devising and designing more creative ways for Jones to get the ball in Nabers’ hands. Just give him the damn ball. Early and often. The club did unretire Ray Flaherty’s No. 1 for him, right? 

The last thing Jones needs to be thinking about is the rookie quarterback he is facing, Jayden Daniels, was the apple of Daboll’s “Hard Knocks” eyes. 

Jones would be better off reminiscing about his five-TD game five years ago in a 51-45 win at what is now Northwest Stadium. 

“I think my mental toughness is in a good spot,” Jones said. 

It can’t hurt that Jones will be on the road, away from the MetLife boobirds. Baker Mayfield (four TDs) torched the Commanders secondary in Week 1. 

Jones cannot afford to blink in the eye of the storm now. It was only Week 1. For his sake, it better not be Week 2, too.