INDIANAPOLIS — There will be spin and deflection in the coming days, but a few issues are undeniable.
Issue 1
The Indianapolis Colts are Daniel Jones’ team.
Shane Steichen made that clear Aug. 19.
“Daniel Jones will be our starting quarterback this season,’’ he said.
For the season.
“I don’t want to have a quick leash on that,’’ Steichen said. “I feel confident in his abilities.’’
Issue 2
This is Daniel Jones’ opportunity to turn the page on six largely unsuccessful seasons with the New York Giants and begin scripting a more glowing second chapter to his NFL career.
The next step into whatever the future holds comes Sunday when the Colts open the season against the Miami Dolphins at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“Absolutely,’’ Steichen said Wednesday. “A new environment, new opportunity for him to go out and prove it. He’s had success in this league. He’s had his ups and downs.
“But it’s a great opportunity for him on Sunday and this season to go prove it.’’
Jones earned that opportunity by winning a training camp competition featuring a pair of lottery-pick quarterbacks: Jones, the No. 6 overall pick by the Giants in 2019, versus Anthony Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick by Indy in ’23.
There’s no question optimism permeates the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center.
Everyone is eager to show the work put forth since mid-April will result in snapping the NFL’s longest active non-winning streak in season openers — the Colts are at 0-10-1 — and ending a four-year playoff drought, the franchise’s longest since 1988-94.
Individually, few will face more scrutiny than Jones. The spotlight that’s followed Richardson’s two-plus seasons of injury and inconsistency has shifted to Jones. He’ll be the Colts’ 11th different starting quarterback since Andrew Luck’s sudden retirement prior to the 2019 season.
As much as Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard emphasize the “team’’ concept — we would argue they’ve constructed a playoff-caliber roster — the Colts will only go as far as their quarterback takes them.
And that means Jones must follow a blueprint that worked for a handful of other first or second-round draft picks who found success after being discarded by their original team. Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and Geno Smith top the short list of QBs who resurrected their careers with another team.
With the Giants, Jones was 24-44-1 as a starter, including 3-13 over his final two seasons before being benched, then released last November. The franchise never surrounded him with the type of supporting cast he’ll have on Sunday — he was sacked 208 times, third-most in the league over the past six seasons — but he wasn’t without blame. Jones suffered 72 turnovers — 47 interceptions, 25 lost fumbles — in 70 games.
Everything wasn’t misery, though.
In 2022, Jones was 9-6-1 as a starter and led the Giants to a wild-card berth and a first-round playoff win at Minnesota. He set career highs by completing 67.1% of his passes and posting a 92.5 passer rating, and his 708 rushing yards were a Giants’ single-season record for a quarterback.
When the Colts signed Jones to a one-year, $14 million contract in March, the team was investing heavily in an insurance policy in case Richardson failed to make the necessary progress.
And Jones was getting a second chance.
Despite several attempts to elicit any individual motivation he might have heading into his seventh season, this one as the Colts’ starter, Jones deftly sidestepped them.
“Just excited to get out there. I think we all are,’’ he said. “A lot of work’s gone into this as a group since dating back in the spring when we got together for OTAs and I feel like we’ve come a long way.’’
Have you resisted the urge to consider what this could mean for you going forward?
“I think you realize that when a team is successful, and we win and we play well on offense, I think it’s good for everybody,’’ Jones said. “I think everyone has that mindset. That’s something that Shane preaches, is having that team mindset.
“But understanding if we’re successful as a team, that certainly is good for everybody, but certainly the team first. And in this league, it’s about winning, and that’s where all of our heads are at.”
Have you thought about how great of an opportunity this is to possibly resurrect your career?
“I’m excited to get out there,’’ Jones said. “Like I said, quarterbacks are judged by winning. I think teams are judged by winning games.
“So, that’s what I’m focused on. I think we have a group of guys who are all kind of focused the same way. So, I’m excited. I’m excited to get out there. I know we’ve put in a lot of work and I know we’re all excited to get out there.”
Richardson never was consistent and couldn’t stay healthy.
Jones offered a more reliable option.
“Daniel’s done a lot of good things,’’ Ballard said last month. “I mean, y’all saw the practices. He did some good things. He’s a good player and he’s an ultimate professional.
“He’s a consistent player day-in and day-out.’’
Steichen points to Jones’ operation of the offense, especially pre-snap, which requires getting everyone into the proper protection scheme, recognizing the defense and getting into good plays and limiting the damage of bad plays.
“He finds completions,’’ Steichen said. “I think that’s a big part of this year. It’s knowing how to throw it, when to throw it and where to throw it.’’
That sounds as if the Colts are expecting Jones to be more game-manager than game-breaker. Avoid mistakes, keep the chains moving, take shots down the field when they’re available.
In his 70-game career with the Giants, Jones completed 64.1% of his passes and averaged 6.5 yards per attempt and 10.1 yards per completion.
Among the 40 quarterbacks who’ve attempted at least 1,000 passes over the past six seasons, his completion percentage ranks 28th, his yards per attempt 37th and his yards per completion 38th.
“At that position, it’s finding completions, moving the football and not making bad plays worse,’’ Steichen said. “I talk about the operation. Feel very confident in his operation at the line of scrimmage, getting us in and out of the right plays and I know the team feels confident as well.’’
You can follow Mike Chappell on Twitter at @mchappell51.