Since taking over as Giants head coach in January, Joe Judge has been very guarded when it comes to publicly showing support of Daniel Jones as the team's starting quarterback. In fact, for a while, Judge didn't even mention Jones by name.

But that all seemed to change on Thursday, as the Giants head coach dished out some serious praise for the soon-to-be second-year signal caller.

As a guest on WFAN's Tiki and Tierney show on Thursday, Judge spoke about the expectations he and the rest of the organization have for Jones in his second season, while also talking up Jones' work ethic.

"I'm very excited about working with Daniel," Judge said. "I love his toughness. I love his competitiveness. Those shine through right away. I want to be fair to Daniel right now and let him have the opportunity to learn the offense that he's working in right now that he's never taken a snap in, and let him progress at his rate and develop his career over the course of time that's going to meet the expectations that we set internally."

After taking over as the Giants starting quarterback for Eli Manning in Week 3 against Tampa Bay, Jones went on to start 12 games as a rookie, amassing a 3-9 record.

His stats were better than his QB record would indicate, though, as he threw for 3,027 yards, 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, while also adding 279 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

It was a solid start for Jones, the sixth overall pick out of Duke last year, but now he has to learn a new offense in Year 2, as he works with new offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.

Judge has yet to see in person what Jones brings to the Giants' locker room on daily basis, but he already loves how well prepared the young QB always seems to be.

"I love working with this guy every day. He's got a fire that burns in him," said Judge. "He brings other guys along with him. He shows up every day. He knows what you're going to teach before you're teaching it in terms of being prepared on material. He sets the tone for the room, and we're very excited [for] when we finally get these guys in person. I'm glad he's on our team. I'm really glad he's on our team."

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