Giants legend explains if Daniel Jones is a 'broken' QB

New York Giants legend and current NFL analyst Tiki Barber raised eyebrows among fans when he said earlier this week that 2019 first-round draft pick Daniel Jones looked like a rookie quarterback in Big Blue's disheartening 28-6 home loss to the Minnesota Vikings this past Sunday. 

After reviewing all 22 coaches' film from New York's regular-season opener, Barber was not yet ready during Thursday's edition of the WFAN afternoon show to agree with those who have suggested Jones is a "broken" signal-caller at this point of his career. 

"I don’t think he’s broken…but he’s lacking confidence," Barber said about Jones, as Audacy's Ryan Chichester shared. "He looks unsure of what he’s doing out there sometimes, and everything is just slow…it felt to me like he was just unsure. As a result, throwing a comeback route is just slow when it comes out of his hand." 

Barber, former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason and NFL Media's Brian Baldinger all noted this week that Jones didn’t look comfortable coming off the season-ending torn ACL he suffered on Nov. 5 of last year. Barber indicated that injury and the fact that Jones missed time last season because of a neck issue caused some "rust" that impacted the 27-year-old's confidence against Minnesota. 

"It’s such an important year for him that he can’t afford to have rust," Barber added about Jones. "He can’t afford to be uncertain."

Barber was referring to the fact that Giants head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen could elect to bench a healthy Jones at any point, so his salary for 2025 doesn't become guaranteed due to a long-term injury. Such a scenario would almost certainly result in the Giants releasing Jones in March of next year, even if neither Schoen nor Daboll is with the organization then. 

Despite all that went wrong for the Giants against the Vikings, Daboll confirmed earlier this week he's starting Jones for this Sunday's game at the 0-1 Washington Commanders. Jones' teammates publicly had his back coming off the Minnesota debacle. Still, Daboll may have to turn to either Drew Lock or Tommy DeVito at Washington's Northwest Stadium to prevent a locker-room mutiny from arising if Jones looks "unsure" and "uncertain" against a Commanders team that suffered a 37-20 loss at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1.