Jets' Sauce Gardner Clarifies Comments About Giants' Daniel Jones from Viral Video

New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner was asked about his opinion and takeaways on New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones in a press conference following the teams' joint practice Wednesday.

Gardner said Jones was a "good quarterback," but that led to an apparent less-than-convincing answer that included 10 seconds of silence midway through the remarks.

Afterward, Gardner addressed the comments (and the silence) on X.

Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk relayed the transcript of Gardner's remarks.

"He's a good quarterback, you feel me. I thought I was about to pick him off today...he had looked at the last minute to try to throw the checkdown to Wan'Dale [Robinson]. I thought I had the pick, but he kept it. I mean," Gardner said.

Then came the silence, followed by: "The competitive period, it was very competitive. It was great. I had fun out there today. I don't really know what to say."

Jones has endured a tumultuous five years as the Giants' starting quarterback to say the least. Injuries have curtailed his progress and playing time, including a torn ACL against the Las Vegas Raiders that ended his 2023 season in early November. In six games last year, he threw three times as many interceptions (six) as touchdowns (two) and had a career-low 151.5 passing yards per outing.

On the flip side, the 27-year-old excelled at times in 2022, leading the team to its first playoff appearance since 2016 and first playoff win since 2011. He excelled on the ground with 708 rushing yards and seven scores while adding 15 more touchdowns (to just five picks) and 3,205 yards through the air.

That led to a four-year, $160 million contract during the 2023 offseason. But there's major questions about whether Jones is the future at quarterback in New York, especially given the injury history and inconsistent play.

Of course, a series of coaching changes hasn't helped (he's notably had three head coaches and four offensive coordinators since 2019), nor has a persistently porous offensive line no matter than the personnel.

When healthy and upright, though, the Duke product has shone flashes, most notably during the playoffs against the Vikings in Jan. 2023 (301 passing yards, two scores, 78 rushing yards).

Going back to Gardner, perhaps he was trying to be polite and respectful in response to the question and just wanted to find the right words in order to do so. Or maybe he thinks Jones is a good quarterback and got distracted, as he said.

Regardless, the two-time first-team All-Pro certainly didn't do anything wrong here. What's most important is the Giants' situation, as the team looks for an offensive boost behind Jones in hopes he can improve and lead the team to a far better offensive finish after it ended second-last in scoring in 2023.