NEW YORK — NFL legend Tom Brady was “a little” critical of New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones while speaking on a panel at Fanatics Fest on Friday at the Javits Center.
Brady pulled Jones’ name out of the blue when discussing a hypothetical interception while on stage with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. It drew more than a few laughs from those in the crowd.
“Let’s say Daniel Jones throws an interception,” Brady said before being interrupted by the laughter from attendees.
As Brady tried to backtrack, he seemed to realize how the comment came off.
“I didn’t mean to say it like that. I wasn’t even being critical of Daniel Jones,” he said. “Maybe I was a little.”
At that point, the conversation moved on.
Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl winner for the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is set to begin this season as the lead analyst for Fox. He is slated to work alongside lead play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt.
Smith and Brady were discussing how the NFL legend was going to be careful of being overly critical of quarterbacks while broadcasting games.
Brady said he might want to make a remark like, “That was horrible,” but acknowledged, “I just can’t say that on TV.”
“Why not?” Smith asked.
“Well because there are parents and there are family members and I don’t want to always necessarily say it in that way,” Brady said. “But if I was doing it myself and let’s say I threw a really bad interception, I would walk to the sidelines and say, ‘You are the worst quarterback in the world. How could you possibly make that throw? Terrible!’
“But I don’t want to be so critical because in some ways I don’t necessarily know exactly what the problem was on that play. Let’s say Daniel Jones throws an interception. …”
Brady has some history with the Giants organization, though it’s not as positive as the rest of his playing career. He lost a pair of Super Bowls to Eli Manning & Co. in the 2007 and 2011 seasons. It’s something he has brought up repeatedly over the years, especially the fact that the Giants ruined New England’s shot at completing an undefeated season in 2007.
Jones, meanwhile, appears to have simply caught a stray Friday. He is entering his sixth season with the Giants and threw two touchdown passes and six interceptions in an injury-filled 2023 in which he tore the ACL in his right knee in November. He also missed games because of a neck injury.
Jones is expected to make his return to the field in Saturday’s preseason game at the Houston Texans.