The Minnesota Vikings signed Daniel Jones to their practice squad, they announced Friday, and the former Giants quarterback addressed his decision five days after New York released him.
“You look at, offensively, what they’ve been able to do,” he said. “The system, coach (Kevin) O’Connell, his staff, just a lot of good things happening across the board — as a team, as an organization but on offense especially. So just excited to join that and help out wherever I can.”
O’Connell was the Washington Commanders’ offensive coordinator in 2019 when Jones entered the NFL Draft as a first-round prospect from Duke.
“He played the position in the league and has a lot of experience as a coach,” Jones said of O’Connell, who lasted five NFL seasons (2008-12) before getting into coaching in 2015. “I got to know him through the draft a little bit when he was in Washington, so that was cool. His system’s been successful. He knows quarterback play, knows how to build the quarterback environment and I think just being a part of that and learning from him and his whole staff was a great opportunity for me.”
In 70 games (69 starts) over six seasons with the Giants, Jones went 24-44-1 while completing 1,437 of 2,241 passes for 14,582 yards and 70 touchdowns to 47 interceptions. He rounded out his production with 399 rushes for 2,179 yards and 15 touchdowns while fumbling 50 times.
“You’re always looking to grow and improve and to work on your craft, see where you can get better and pick up on certain things,” said Jones, who joins a position group that has former Jets quarterback Sam Darnold as the starter. “So, yeah, I’m looking forward to that but more so just to help out — to be part of a good quarterback room, part of a good offense and see where I can help.”
