With the Giants down 21-6 in the third quarter against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, there was already little hope the offense was going to turn things around in time. Daniel Jones then threw a pick-six to make it a 28-6 game with about four minutes left in the third, causing Giants fans to unleash a roar of boos.
After the loss, which felt like a continuation from the 2023 season, defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence gave his thoughts on fans throughout MetLife Stadium booing their team for a poor showing in Week 1.
“I don’t respect it, honestly,” Lawrence said. “I get it, they want to see their team win. It’s just a rough patch. It is what it is.”
New offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor was understanding of Giants fans’ emotions during the game, and acknowledged there’s a lot more everyone on the team can do to be better.
“I mean, shoot, I don’t blame them. We need to be better, and we will be better,” Eluemunor said. “Obviously, it’s New York City, they want to win. Us as an offense and me as a player and starting right tackle, we all can always be better. There’s always more you can do, doesn’t matter win or loss, doesn’t matter, there’s always more you can do to help the team win and put them in a better position. That’s what we’re gonna watch the tape on tomorrow, look at that, be better because of it.”
Later Sunday night, video surfaced online of Giants fans booing Jones as he was leaving the stadium. Eluemunor responded to the clip and called on fans to be better.
“Today didn’t go as expected I get it, but this is WACK AF,” he said on X. “As someone who’s dealt with and still fights depression and confidence issues this needs to stop. It’s okay be upset as a fan but to come to the player entrance and act this way is inhumane. We will be better, this needs to be better also.”
Jones also spoke about the “restless fans” and if boos made things more challenging while trying to get the offense back on track.
“I think it’s our job to give them something to cheer about and to play well, to execute,” Jones said. “We take that seriously. They expect us to play well, we expect to play well, we got to do that.”
New York managed just 240 yards of total offense, with Jones throwing for only 186 yards and two interceptions, and failed to score a touchdown, yet another theme from the 2023 season that has lingered.
The struggling quarterback went on to discuss what the team can do moving forward to prevent an ugly Week 1 loss becoming a string of bad performances.
“I think it’s about seeing where we need to be better and addressing those areas and then executing,” Jones said. “It comes down to making the play, executing and getting going. I know we’ve got the guys to do that. Confident in myself, confident in the group and we’ll go from there.”
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