NEW YORK — Changes aren’t coming for the New York Giants despite a 2-5 start to the season.
Giants co-owner John Mara addressed the future of general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll on Wednesday, saying he still has “confidence in both of them.”
“Obviously, we’re all very disappointed with where we are right now,” Mara said. “But I’m going to say one thing. We are not making any changes this season. And I do not anticipate making any changes in the offseason either.”
The Giants are 17-23-1 under Daboll and Schoen. But the team’s -197-point differential since the start of the 2022 season is the third worst in the league during that stretch. Over the summer, Mara spoke about wanting to walk off the field feeling they were “moving in the right direction.” When asked if the team has a long way to go before he can make claims about feeling good, Mara said, “Absolutely. We’re 2-5.”
Mara spoke Wednesday after the premiere of the documentary “The Duke: The Giant Life of Wellington Mara,” in honor of his late father, and was asked how much he craves to get back to some of the brighter moments highlighted in the film.
“More than you could ever know, believe me, this has been difficult for me, for my family and particularly for our fans,” Mara said. “And that’s something that affects me the most.”
When asked what he’s taken from his father, Mara said he’s tried to be more patient.
“I’ve probably been guilty of not being patient enough in recent years, and that’s one of the reasons I’m committed to Joe and Brian Daboll and giving them a chance to turn this thing around,” he said.
Mara’s remarks come a few days after the division rival Philadelphia Eagles delivered a 28-3 thrashing against the Giants on Sunday. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who previously played for the Giants, earned NFC Player of the Week honors for his performance, rushing for 176 yards and a touchdown.
Barkley has 761 scrimmage yards this season, which is the most by a player in his first six games with a team since Barkley’s first six games as a Giants rookie in 2018. His departure was extensively covered in “Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants,” and in the series, Mara delivered the infamous line about having a hard time sleeping if Barkley went to Philadelphia.
“Listen, he knows how I feel about him,” Mara said when asked about that line. “I can’t say I was surprised by the game that he had. We greeted each other before the game. He’s a great player. Not only was he a great player for us, but the way he represented us off the field too is something that I’ll always appreciate him for and he knows that.”
Beyond Barkley’s performance, Daboll benched quarterback Daniel Jones with 11 minutes to play in the fourth quarter to “create a spark.”
When asked about Jones, Mara declined to get into individual player performances. He also declined to talk about Jones’ injury guarantee in his contract.
Required reading
- Giants’ lifeless effort vs. Eagles calls everything into question — QB, coach, all of it
- Welcome to John Mara’s nightmare: Eagles’ Saquon Barkley shreds Giants in return to MetLife
- Giants hit breaking point with Daniel Jones; only a matter of time before he’s benched again?
- Brian Daboll says Daniel Jones ‘remains’ starting QB for Giants despite benching vs. Eagles
(Photo: Kyle Terada / Imagn Images)
