#Jason Garrett gushes about Daniel Jones in first Giants comments

Jason Garrett didn’t need a quarterback when Daniel Jones was coming out of Duke and into the NFL draft. Garrett, as head coach of the Cowboys, did the requisite work on Jones, but that is all.

“We didn’t do a deep-dive into him,’’ Garrett said Tuesday.

Little did Garrett know how the unpredictable NFL winds would blow, altering the direction of his career. Garrett and Jones are now joined at the hip, not physically but professionally — Garrett now the Giants’ offensive coordinator entrusted with the continued development of the 23-year-old franchise quarterback.

Rather than evaluating him from afar and beating him the one time the Cowboys faced Jones as a rookie, Garrett’s success in his new role will be largely determined on his ability to turn Jones into a winning player.

“Since I’ve been here, he’s been a real joy to work with,’’ Garrett said in his first public comments since getting hired in January. “There’s no question that he is a football guy. He loves football and he’s always so prepared, he’s always studying his stuff, he always has great questions and wants to get better. My experience has been, when you have that kind of approach and that kind of attitude, if you have some ability you’re going to keep growing and getting better every day, and he’s certainly done that.’’

Jones briefly got to meet Garrett before the Giants facility shut down in March, and Jones waited out a spring and early summer COVID-19 pandemic back home in Charlotte, N.C. It was not until training camp in early this month that Garrett and Jones were able to ditch their remote relationship and engage in hands-on communication.

Garrett masterfully guided Dak Prescott’s NFL indoctrination, helping Prescott gain Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2016. Garrett now gets Jones after a promising first year with the Giants.

“Well, we don’t really get into comparing players, everybody’s in a different situation,’’ Garrett said. “The thing you just like so much about Daniel is just his approach. He clearly has ability. He’s someone who’s big, he’s strong, he’s athletic, he’s got a really good arm, he’s got all the tools you’re looking for. But the thing that really jumps out is the approach he takes every day.

“He’s a ball guy. He loves ball, he works very hard at it, he’s always trying to refine his skills, he’s always trying to gain more knowledge and find ways to become a better quarterback, individually and for our team. That’s what you get most excited about.’’

Garrett spent more than 20 years with the Cowboys — as a player, assistant coach and, for the past 10 years, as the head coach. As he awaited his fate and still under contract, the Cowboys interviewed Mike McCarthy and Marvin Lewis. The twisting in the wind ended Jan. 5, when the Cowboys finally announced Garrett was done.

Twelve days later, new Giants coach Joe Judge hired Garrett, and since then, Garrett has been kept under wraps. He started out his Zoom interview Tuesday acknowledging “my time in Dallas and how grateful I am for that whole experience and everyone in the Cowboy organization for the opportunity and the support and the lifelong friendships that I made.’’

Then Garrett, a Giants backup quarterback from 2000-03, laid down the law when it came to his first session with the media covering the Giants:

“With all due respect, I’d love to have the questions we talk about be focused on what’s happening here with the Giants, rather than Dallas.’’

True to his word, Garrett navigated his way around any attempts to delve into his ouster in Dallas or his adjustment to a coordinator role.

It has been a while since Garrett, 54, called plays in the NFL. He did it as the Cowboys offensive coordinator and continued to call plays his first two years as their head coach. He stopped calling plays after the 2012 season.

Garrett’s offenses in Dallas were known for crunching offensive lines and pounding running games. He has the running back, Saquon Barkley, but the Giants’ offensive line remains a work in progress.

“There have been times in the past we’ve thrown the ball a lot, there’s been times in the past we’ve run the ball a lot,’’ Garrett said. “The one thing that’s been consistent is we want to attack defenses different ways. When we’ve played our best offense we’ve executed at a high level and we’ve attacked defenses different ways, and we’ll continue to try to do that.’’