New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton has long supported quarterback Daniel Jones. It’s a stance he’s never shied away from and something he continues to face head-on.
After a week of seemingly endless Jones criticism and slander, Slayton is once again defending his friend and teammate from the onslaught.
Specifically, Slayton took exception to the commentary from cornerback Sauce Gardner, the New York Jets defense, and NFL pundits following a joint practice between the two teams on Wednesday.
Gardner laughed when asked to evaluate Jones despite the quarterback completing 13 of his 19 pass attempts for one touchdown and no interceptions. Two passes — both potential touchdowns — were also dropped.
“They can walk away from yesterday, beat their chests, say they held us to whatever,” Slayton told the New York Daily News on Thursday. “But in a real game, at the end of the day, if they were to play how they did, we would have ran the ball for a bazillion yards and we would’ve won the game. And if they came up, they would’ve gotten beat (deep).”
Slayton said the Jets played deep the entire practice, effectively forcing Jones to throw balls underneath. That immediately became a focal point of the criticism, which the wide receiver feels proves a double standard.
“What do you want DJ to do?” Slayton said. “If DJ threw I up into double coverage, we’d be back on Sportscenter. But he checks it down and everybody’s like, ‘Oh man, we couldn’t get anything going today!’ It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
“Think about it. If he’s out there and launched a double-covered contested (pass), people are like, ‘What is he looking at?!’ He checks it down to the running back, and it’s like, ‘Ah, man, the Giants couldn’t get anything going today!’ It’s like, ‘Alright, I guess.'”
Slayton isn’t wrong. It doesn’t matter what Jones does, good or bad, there will be someone there to criticize it. It’s become acceptable currency to bash DJ over literally anything to the point it’s become almost personal; almost hateful.
In addition to DJ, Slayton feels Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts are treated similarly.
“(They are) probably the most scrutinized quarterbacks in the NFL,” he said.
They are. But absolutely no one in the league faces the same level of scrutiny that Jones does. The disdain has jumped the shark.
