Jones’ fit in Minnesota makes plenty of sense. No, he won’t be contending for a starting job with the Vikings this season (barring injury), but he will be joining a contender coached by a former quarterback in O’Connell, who has a reputation for extracting the most out of his signal-callers.
“The player development side and the quarterback development side is something that is a huge passion of mine,” O’Connell said. “I just love getting opportunities to work with guys, no matter what point in their quarterback journey they’re at. … Really, our system is built to hopefully try to help guys realize their truest potential.”
Look no further than Minnesota’s current starting quarterback for proof of O’Connell’s work. Sam Darnold arrived as a bridge QB in the offseason and was on the fast track to being rookie J.J. McCarthy’s backup before McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury in the preseason, forcing the Vikings to proceed with Darnold as their best remaining option. Since then, Darnold has done nothing but shock the rest of the football world, playing with a new sense of confidence, composure and conviction while helping the Vikings to a 9-2 record through 12 weeks.
It would seem as if the reclamation of Darnold, Minnesota’s organizational success and the presence of O’Connell were enough to convince Jones that’s where he should head next. It’s truly what the quarterback needs after spending his first six NFL seasons under the New York microscope, struggling to find consistency with a franchise that never quite insulated him well enough to promote long-term development.
Jones cleared waivers on Monday after being released by the Giants last week.
Though he’s joining via practice squad initially, Jones will receive a chance to earn the backup job behind Darnold. Minnesota received a reminder of their lack of quality quarterback depth last week when Darnold appeared to suffer an injury and was briefly replaced by Nick Mullens before returning.
Jones likely won’t be shopping for a permanent residence in Minneapolis, but he will receive training akin to a residency for the rest of this season. We’ll see how it pans out for the former first-rounder.
