Duke football standout Daniel Jones looks very shaky in season opener
Former Duke football star quarterback Daniel Jones looked shaky in the 2021 season opener.
The first game of Daniel Jones‘ third NFL season certainly did not go how the former Duke football quarterback envisioned it.
Jones displayed the same decision-making skills, lack of care for the football, and was under duress all afternoon as the New York Giants fell at home to the Denver Broncos, 27-13.
The former No. 6 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft was 22-of-37 for 267 yards and a touchdown while also being the team’s leading rusher with 27 yards on six carries and a touchdown.
New York saw the return of Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley after he tore his ACL early last season. Barkley only had 26 rushing yards on ten carries.
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Sterling Shepard was Jones’ favorite target on Sunday afternoon as the slot receiver reeled in seven passes for 113 yards and a touchdown.
The Giants were able to take a 7-3 lead in the second quarter after Daniel Jones led the team on a seven-play, 75-yard drive where he found Shepard for a 37-yard touchdown pass.
However, New York was unable to score any points until the last play of the game when Jones called his own number for a four-yard touchdown rush.
Daniel Jones and the Giant offense had four drives in the second half. Two ended with a turnover on downs, one saw Jones fumble at the Broncos’ 20-yard line with the Giants trailing by ten points, and the other was New York’s touchdown.
Duke football quarterback makes bad NFL history after Week 1
Daniel Jones led the NFL in fumbles in 2019 and 2020. And on Sunday afternoon, he became the second player in NFL history, since fumbles were officially tracked in 1994, to lose his 30th career fumble by career game 28, according to CBS Sports.
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Jones also has 40 career turnovers in his 28 NFL games, which is the second-fewest amount of games to reach 40 turnovers in NFL history, according to StatMuse.
Daniel Jones and the New York Giants have a quick turnaround as Big Blue will travel to play the Washington Football Team on Thursday, September 16 at 8:20pm EST on NFL Network.