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When the robot character in the old sci-fi TV series “Lost in Space’’ — named, simply, “Robot’’ — was presented with something illogical, he would flail his accordion-styled arms and exclaim, “Does not compute … does not compute.’’
In a way, this brings us to how the Giants feel about Daniel Jones. They sing his praises every chance they get and by now it is well-established that he is a hard worker, a tough guy, extremely coachable, dedicated and eager to learn and improve. Far less established are his credentials. He is 7-18 in his two years as a starting quarterback and this season has nine touchdown passes, nine interceptions, 10 fumbles and has been at the helm of the NFL’s second-lowest scoring team.
Head coach Joe Judge said this week he sees plenty of progress out of Jones. Jerry Schuplinski, the quarterbacks coach, doubled-down on that Tuesday, saying Jones’ greatest improvement from the start of the season to now is his awareness in the pocket.
“I feel like his anticipation and understanding of the coverages and his reads have been improved,’’ Schuplinski said. “And I would say, from not just what I saw on film last year, because it was a different system, but in our system Day 1 in training camp, understanding where he’s looking, where he wants to go, what the defense is doing, there’s some really good examples.’’
There is a dichotomy at work here. The Giants are bullish on Jones despite what virtually all the numbers and data say.
“I’d say the win part of it is a team thing, a lot of it’s a team thing,’’ Schuplinski said. “I think Daniel’s progressed, I’m happy he’s here, I’m happy to have him. Again, I don’t get overly caught up in things like that, in statistics and wins. I think the results will keep coming … but certainly, we hope for a better record than we’re at right now.’’
The Giants ran for 54 yards and allowed six second-half sacks in the 27-13 loss to the Ravens. The pass protection was solid in the first half but caved in when the Giants were in catchup mode and out of balance on offense, throwing on almost every down.
“Well, listen, it wasn’t good enough,’’ offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo said. There are always bright spots in a ballgame and there are some individual plays where you just say, ‘Wow, what a great job’ a guy did, or you see advancement in fundamental techniques or hand placement or footwork or awareness or things like that. But when you take the totality of the play, it’s just not good enough. It’s not good enough as a group, it’s not good enough individually, and clearly it’s not good enough in terms of how I got them ready to go.’’
Asked how he felt seeing two veterans, Cam Fleming and Kevin Zeitler, called for false start penalties back-to-back on the opening series, DeGuglielmo said, “I’ll use the old Pat Hanlon ‘No comment’ on that one, how’s that?’’ Hanlon is the team’s senior vice president of communications.
Sterling Shepard is coming off his most productive game of the season — nine receptions for 77 yards and one touchdown — and would be leading the team in catches had he not missed four games with a turf toe injury. Shepard leads all wide receivers with 58 catches, behind only tight end Evan Engram (61).
Asked who his best player has been this season, wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert identified Shepard.
“We did a study a couple of weeks ago that the most efficient one, as far as opportunities to make plays, has been Sterling,’’ Tolbert said. “He had the highest catch percentage of any player on the team, really. He’s probably, if you go on those numbers alone, the most consistent guy we’ve had in the wide receiver room.’’
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