Daniel Jones is having fun working with Darren Waller and John Michael Schmitz
The New York Giants concluded their third OTA practice of the 2023 season on Thursday. It was the first practice open to the media. Quarterback Daniel Jones spoke to the media after practice and gave his thoughts on the new additions that joined the Giants in the offseason.
Jones was asked about his ‘new toy’ Darren Waller, and the signal caller praised the size, athletic ability, and intelligence of the former Raiders’ tight end.
Jones said, “It feels like you hear about most guys or you see them in the program, and they’re listed at 6’6”, and they’re really like 6’4” or 6’5”. He’s a true 6’6”. He’s a true 250, 260, and can fly, can run, can run all the routes. He’s just an impressive athlete. He’s just been locked in. You can tell it’s important to him. He’s put a lot of effort into learning the stuff and getting caught up. It’s been fun working with him.”
Another question was posed about Waller later in the interview, and Jones responded with this:
“He’s a real deep-thinking guy,” Jones said. “You can tell he cares about the relationships he has with guys on the team and is extremely humble and authentic in who he is. I have a ton of respect for that and who he is as a person, as a teammate. For all the reasons I said before and all those reasons, it’s been a lot of fun working with him.”
Jones also discussed the crisp nature of Waller’s routes and how he catches everything thrown in his direction. According to Jones, Waller is picking up the offense quickly.
Darren Waller wasn’t the only new teammate Jones opined on. Jones was asked about his initial impressions of rookie center John Michael Schmitz.
“He’s [Schmitz] been great too. He’s been great. He’s a smart guy,” Jones said. “Been in here working hard. He’s on it every day, working to learn and understand what we’re doing in protections, what we’re doing in the run game. Obviously, this is more of a passing camp. So, a lot of that run stuff’s happening in meetings and then walkthroughs out here. But he’s doing a great job, and it’s been fun working with him.”
Jones also said the “dead ball” snapping style of Schmitz is ‘good’. Jones said it was accurate and he's good with that type of style. Jones was also asked about the overall speed upgrade of the current Giants and all the new pieces added this offseason at the receiver position.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who have played a lot of football,” He said, “[they] have really good experience in this league, making a lot of plays, who can do different things. Yeah, speed is certainly part of that, and we’re learning what everyone’s good at or what they feel comfortable doing and trying to set guys up to do those things and put us all in a position to be successful.”
Jones was asked about his mindset as he entered the second year of the same offensive system with Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka.
Jones said, “Yeah, it’s definitely beneficial for myself as well as all the guys who have been here, having learned it once. I think in that we don’t want to skip steps or look over anything during this time of the year. We’re focused on continuing to evolve and change-up what we’re doing, experiment with different things that may be good for us. In that, we’re always kind of learning. We’re always adjusting and trying to work on new and different things.”
Jones also discussed the Saquon Barkley situation and stated that ‘it’s business’. Jones said he’s in touch with Barkley regularly and he is a ‘close friend’. He also added that Barkley is a tremendous part of this offense, who is a great player, and a big part of the team, and he hopes something we'll get done.
Source: Big Blue View
