Micah Parsons explains why Giants should have pulled Daniel Jones from Cowboys blowout

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was a sitting duck in the 40-0 Week 1 loss to the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, as he was sacked seven times and knocked to the ground 11 times. Two of those hits and one sack came courtesy of Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons.

Though Parsons has plenty of incentive to get to Jones, including a mega contract extension, he admitted Monday he felt bad for the Giants signal-caller. Parsons said that the Giants did a disservice to Jones by leaving him in the game during the fourth quarter.

“It’s called protecting your guy — something I thought the Giants should have done,” Parsons said on “The Edge” podcast, via Giants Wire. “I don’t think Daniel Jones should have been in that game in the fourth quarter. I thought they should have protected him and pulled him out and, barring injury, their season would be over without Daniel Jones. The Bengals did the smart decision by pulling Joe Burrow.

“I do not agree with Daniel Jones staying out there until that last drive. I thought that was wrong… Thought it was deceiving. That’s your franchise quarterback and he’s out there with a backup offensive line, still getting sacked and hit. I just didn’t understand, maybe it was a prove-it moment by the Giants, I have no idea. A learning lesson. Who knows?”

Micah Parsons sticks up for Daniel Jones after poor performance

Jones, fresh off signing a four-year, $160 million deal with the Giants this offseason, had arguably the worst performance of his career against the Cowboys. He completed 15-of-28 passes for 104 yards and two interceptions. Jones had a QBR of 8.4 and a passer rating of 32.4.

Parsons said that Jones “is not a bad quarterback,” he just ran into one of the top defenses in the NFL.

“Daniel Jones is not a bad quarterback,” Parsons said. “Some of you may think that he’s a bad quarterback and why’d they sign him? You have to remember, Daniel Jones just went against a top-3 defense. They’re still learning to gel together… It’s only his second year with [head coach] Brian Daboll. He gets grace. I think nowadays we don’t give the same grace as we [did] with guys like Peyton Manning when they came into the league.

“The reality is, he’s a really good player.”