FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – In a way, the giants helped create a monster.
They were so bad on defense Wednesday, the first day of two joint practices with the Patriots, that Mac Jones, the rookie quarterback who competed with veteran Cam Newton for the New England starting job, looked like the steal of the entire draft. NFL. He set the Giants on fire and the Patriots Nation sank in their display, believing the boy could have a chance to be the No. 1 quarterback on the opening day.
“He did it right, credit where he has to win,” said Logan Ryan, a giant security company. “It’s the NFL. He made good throws, but we didn’t play like us.”
On Wednesday night, Ryan and defender Blake Martinez, two undisputed Giants leaders, plotted not revenge, but vindication. Martinez admitted when he returned to the hotel and released the TV that he heard a lot about Jones and all the throws he had made against the Giants.
“I feel like the first day we made a lot of mistakes, we weren’t good enough, we didn’t come prepared to play, we didn’t start fast,” Martinez said. “We went back, watched the film, made the corrections, went out and played our ball style. But there are still things to correct, but we felt good. “
Jones took full advantage of his opportunity Wednesday as Newton was out of the Patriots due to a violation of the COVID-19 protocol. Newton returned a day later and received the first snapshots with the headlines. Jones took most of the work, however, and was much less effective the second time.
Safety Xavier McKinney was aggressive in breaking a pass from Jones and on the next play Jones threw wide and in the middle and was intercepted by Ryan, who had been upset with his work the day before. Ryan began his NFL career in 2013 with the Patriots and spent four years playing Bill Belichick. This return was initially not as planned.
“I wasn’t really happy with how he played,” Ryan said. “I probably played the worst day I’ve played football in a long time and, personally, I just felt like I wasn’t directing our boys either. I felt like I was out of it. I haven’t driven our guys the right way, either, whatever the reason, no excuses, so, that’s football. This is not the best of seven. You get it, you play the next game and luckily we had a second chance and I think we responded better. “
If it was live action, the Giants could have Jones sacks from Lorenzo Carter, Ifeadi Odenigbo and Jabrill Peppers. Sam Beal had two passing breaks. Jones was not as effective as he was the first time, when at one point he completed 14 consecutive passes.
“[Defensive coordinator] Pat Graham is extremely smart and puts a lot on our plate in terms of multiple schemes and defenses, and our job is to get it, communicate it to the guys and get us to run it the way they think, ”Ryan said. . “It’s a league of players, the players have to make the plays.
“And when Blake has a bad day and I have a bad day the same day, we lose by 100. So. [Wednesday] we both had bad days. Not much happens, but it was just one of those days, and a lot of people looked at us, felt, as a leader, how would I respond? Am I going to drop my head? Will I call him a day? Will I get all these punches in the back and props because I’ve played here before, or will I answer? I feel like Blake and I responded better, and the team responded better. “