Pat Shurmur doesn’t expect too much to change schematically with his offense this week as Daniel Jones replaces Eli Manning at quarterback.
But the head coach and several players expect the 22-year-old rookie to infuse the ability to create time for himself with his legs — hardly a strength of Manning — when the 0-2 Giants play at Tampa Bay on Sunday looking for their first win of the season.
“I just think you have a guy that can probably extend plays a little bit,” wide receiver Russell Shepard said. “He’s young and he ran pretty well in college [at Duke]. It’s an extra element to our zone-read game. I think whoever’s in there is gonna execute plays, so I’m excited.
“From what I’ve seen in practice and seen in college, DJ can do some things with his legs. You have to account for him, you have to be able to play honest when things break down for a quarterback like him. Because he can get the first down and extend plays with his legs.”
Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians also expects Jones’ mobility will lead to more “movement passes” for the Giants. He believes the key this week remains stopping Saquon Barkley — who he called “on another planet” among NFL running backs — and forcing Jones to throw the ball.
“Every play that goes in, the quarterback that’s running that play has a little different interpretation of it, sometimes slower or quicker than others. To answer the question, he’s got the ability to run our full offense,” Shurmur said of Jones. “We’ll get him ready to play and put a plan together he can utilize, and go to work.
“It should look the same schematically, and I’ll let the changes and tactics reveal themselves. But we want to score more points, and that’s what we’re looking for. We’re looking for better results.”
Jones, 22, completed 85.3 percent of his passes during the preseason and went 3-for-4 in mop-up duty in a Week 1 loss at Dallas.
“I’m not sure the offense will change substantially,” Jones said. “I think it’ll be what we do, it’ll be what we’ve [practiced] since the spring and what we’re used to. I don’t see that changing a whole lot. We’ve got a good system. We’ve got good players who are used to the system. I think it’ll stay pretty consistent.”
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