There will be growing pains and baby steps before they will be singing the Ballad of Danny Dimes, because Eli Manning wasn’t Eli Manning when he first started, John Elway wasn’t John Elway, and on and on.
But a portrait of a rookie at ease with the magnitude of this moment, comfortable in his own skin and armed with ambition as his childhood dream day nears has already been etched into the psyche of his Giants teammates and coaches.
Don’t expect miracles from Daniel Jones.
But don’t expect a knock-kneed rookie with a soprano lump in his throat Sunday in Tampa either.
His teammates, even as they admire Manning and are filled with undying respect for the franchise’s iconic quarterback, seem energized by Jones’ ascension. They are confident he will rise to the occasion and are determined to rise to the occasion with him.
��He takes command of the huddle,” center Jon Halapio said. “Control of it. He’s confident. He’s loud in his approach. You would think a rookie quarterback comes in mumbling, shaking a little bit, nervous, you know? But he’s none of that.”
There is no mistaking that this is his huddle.
“He’s loud!” Evan Engram said. “[Wednesday], it was really loud, and [Thursday], they cranked up the noise and he was even louder. That’s good. His snap count’s really good, his cadence is really loud. We go silent sometimes on the road, I was like, ‘Shoot, we might be able to hear over that especially at a tight end, we’re kinda in-line still.’ He’s assertive and loud in the huddle for sure.”
Engram does not think the moment will be too big for Daniel Jones.
“One, because us as an offense and as a group, we’re gonna do everything we can to help him out, make he’s getting in rhythm and get comfortable and get that confidence,” Engram said, “but you just don’t see that nervousness or that timidness with him. I don’t think it’s gonna faze him at all.”
Jones has a side to him that is reserved only for his teammates.
“He’s one of the goofiest guys on the team,” Russell Shepard told The Post. “He kinda reminds me of 10 [Manning]. He knows how to be serious, but at the same time, he’s [got] a very dry sense of humor.”
Shepard was in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Jones grew up, for a year.
“We like some of the same rappers,” Shepard said. “He likes DaBaby. I like him too. West side of Charlotte is what me and him joke about. West side is kind of not too good of an area.”
You want more goofy?
“When it’s football time, he’s super serious,” Halapio said, “but when you catch him on the side here and there, he’s pretty goofy. He doesn’t do any like pranks like Eli does, but he’s a jokester.”
An example?
“I’d rather not say,” Halapio said, and smiled. “I’ll give you a different one. One time he hit me with one of the, ‘What’s on your shirt?’ Flicked my nose. I think this was during practice in OTAs.”
None of this would matter if Jones didn’t have the arm.
“He drives it,” Shepard said. “He can make great throws really from anywhere in the pocket. I think one of the better things he does is throwing on the run very accurate. He can throw across his body and obviously he can make all the throws across the field, so as a receiver, you better be prepared for it all. People don’t realize the kind of athlete he is once he gets on the edge, and he can spin it.”
Engram, asked what kind of ball Jones throws, said: “It’s really pretty, honestly. He can put it on a line, he can put it on a rope that can come at you pretty quick when it has to, and then he definitely has a lot of touch and can put it to where only the receiver can get it.”Bucs head coach Bruce Arians will target Saquon Barkley, of course, and dare Jones to beat him.
“He came up to the line and pointed out some different protection, where we’re going, and he came and changed it, and he saw something that I didn’t see,” Halapio said. “That’s something that Eli does. That just brings confidence to us that he knows what he’s doing.”
Jones has an unflappable demeanor.
“Don’t try to do too much,” is offensive coordinator Mike Shula’s advice, “and make sure you communicate clearly.”
“Be you,” is Saquon Barkley’s advice. “You don’t gotta be anybody else besides yourself. You’re here for a reason, you got here for a reason. The only people you gotta impress is the people in this locker room and the people in this facility, and he’s already done that. There’s gonna be plays to be had, and there’s gonna be adversity, but just go out there and have fun.”
And be goofy all you want after the game.