Giants takeaways from Sunday’s preseason finale loss to Patriots, including offensive line’s rough night protecting Daniel Jones

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Daniel Jones got his first game action of the preseason on Sunday night – and he was lucky to get out in one piece.

The Giants’ starting quarterback was battered during his one half of action behind his porous offensive line, taking hit after hit from the New England Patriots defense. He actually fared pretty well, considering the duress he was under, completing 17-of-22 for 135 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the Giants’ 22-20 loss.

But the absolutely disastrous performance of the line was the story of the game. Jones was sacked twice, including by Patriots linebacker Josh Uche on the third play of the game as Uche just shoved left tackle Andrew Thomas into the Giants’ backfield. On the second drive, Jones got hammered three times in a five-play span – and all three pressure came right over Thomas (though on one of them, linebacker Matt Judon came in completely unblocked).

Thomas was terrible, but he wasn’t alone. Right tackle Nate Solder, who got the start over Matt Peart, gave up a half sack. Then Peart came in and quickly was beat by Uche, who again hit Jones. Thomas even threw in a holding penalty, to add to the ugliness. Oh, and in the first half, running back Devontae Booker – the starter if Saquon Barkley isn’t ready for the opener – averaged just 2.0- yards per carry (7 carries, 14 yards) mostly because he had no holes to run through.

What was remarkable is that despite the beating he took, Jones completed 8 of his first 10 passes for 67 yards – a pretty good performance, considering he was constantly under duress. But all that pressure tends to be cumulative, and it sure looked like it eventually wore on Jones. Because his 11th pass attempt was by far his worst.

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Right after Booker got stuffed on 2nd and goal from the half-yard-line midway through the second quarter, Jones tried a play-action pass and rolled to his right. Not surprisingly, he had Uche right up on top of him as he went to throw. And also not surprisingly, he was picked off by cornerback D’Angelo Ross – the only player who had any shot at the ball.

Jones nearly was picked off on third down on the next drive too, and by then he just looked like he was a bit shaken – and probably very bruised.

Here are some more takeaways from the Giants’ preseason finale:

• Except for that terrible end-zone interception, Jones was really pretty good. He was at his best on the two-minute drive at the end of the first half. He completed 7 of 8 passes for 55 yards, with his one incompletion coming on a throwaway when all his receivers were covered. He also ran 4 yards for a first down and ended the drive with a perfect, 23-yard touchdown to a well-covered tight end Kaden Smith. The key? He was well-protected. A bigger key? The Patriots had already pulled their defensive starters.

• The performance of LT Andrew Thomas was really, really alarming. Maybe it’ll be just a blip for him, but he was just manhandled at times by the Patriots’ rush. It’s not like they were doing a lot of stunts or things to confuse him. He was just pushed around and sometimes seemed to step or lean the wrong way.

• The Giants receiving corps is pretty crowded when (if?) everyone is healthy, so this wasn’t a good showcase for Darius Slayton, especially since he’s coming off a down season. He had a terrible drop on a third down play in the first quarter that at least would’ve put the Giants in field goal range. He also had an offensive pass interference, and then left with ankle and foot injuries after just one catch for 7 yards.

• The biggest bright side of this game? The starting defense. They were swarming all over the Patriots. They had two sacks (Dexter Lawrence, Lorenzo Carter) and got a remarkable interception from middle linebacker Blake Martinez, who was streaking down the middle of the field trying to cover Patriots receiver Jakobi Meyers. Cam Newton hit Meyers down the field with a perfect pass right into his hands. Yet somehow, Martinez ripped it away as the two fell to the ground.

• There may not be much room for him when Barkley is healthy, but the Giants put rookie running back Gary Brightwell to good use, especially in that two-minute drive at the end of the half when he had two catches for 12 yards. In all Brightwell had four carries for 10 yards and caught three passes for 20 yards. And the fact that he got that work ahead of veteran running back Corey Clement was interesting, and possibly telling.

• Rookie Rodarius Williams, a sixth-round pick, got the start at corner with Adoree’ Jackson out and held up pretty well. Darnay Jones, last year’s fourth rounder, came in as the nickel corner. Williams has had a nice camp and it looks like he’s earned himself a role in the defensive back rotation.

• It was a good preseason debut for receiver Sterling Shepard, who had five catches for 42 yards and showed the quickness and moves he was showing off most of the summer. He won’t be the No. 1 receiver when Kenny Golladay is finally healthy, but he could be a heck of a No. 2 if the defense has to concentrate on somebody else.

• Tight end Evan Engram caught three of the four passes thrown in his direction for a total of 22 yards. But then he left the game in the second quarter with a calf injury.

• Another note on the Giants’ offensive line issues: Joe Judge really rotated them in the first half – at least at left guard where Ted Larsen started and Kenny Wiggins rotated in, and at right tackle where Solder started and then alternated series with Peart. He did that a lot last year too, and the excuse was that he wanted to get experience for his younger players. But it’s not going to be good for chemistry if that continues. Maybe it’s time to settle on five guys and let them see what they can do?

• Rookie LB Azeez Ojulari got the start and played most of the first half, which was good to see. He wasn’t much of a factor, but he had been limited so much in camp this could be a sign that he’ll be ready for more at the start of the season.

• A great play that wasn’t: WR David Sills, who is fighting for the last receiver spot on the roster, turned his defender around and was wide open down the field for what should have been a 55-yard touchdown… but Mike Glennon overthrew him. Sills finished with one reception for 14 yards and has probably done enough to stick around.

• Oops. Graham Gano missed a 41-yard field goal attempt, wide right in the third quarter — his first field goal attempt since the Giants traded away kicker Ryan Santoso.

• As expected the Giants sat several of their starters and regulars, due to injuries, including RB Saquon Barkley (knee), WR Kenny Golladay (hamstring), WR John Ross (hamstring), WR Kadarius Toney (undisclosed), LG Shane Lemieux (knee), TE Kyle Rudolph (foot), CB Adoree’ Jackson (ankle), and DT Danny Shelton (undisclosed).