Daniel Jones is three games into his Indianapolis Colts career, and he has played unexpectedly well. No guarantee exists that Jones will be in Week 4 or beyond. Three games do not a career make. Let's hope Danny Dimes continues to be great, but he might not.
Still, he is enjoying at least his 15 minutes of fame. This included appearing on the ManningCast during Monday Night Football's Detroit Lions versus Baltimore Ravens game. (The Lions won, by the way.) The hosts of the program are Eli Manning and his brother Peyton.
Indy fans might know who both quarterbacks are, of course, but if you don't, Peyton Manning is likely the best quarterback to ever play for the Colts. He is arguably the best QB ever. Johnny Unitas was pretty good for the Baltimore Colts, though. Andrew Luck might have been an all-time great as well.
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones didn't seem in on the joke during a recent ManningCast
But Daniel Jones? He isn't there yet. He knows it. So does Peyton Manning. So does Eli Manning.
That didn't stop Eli from offering a humorous question to Jones during his guest appearance on the Week 3 ManningCast. Eli asked, "Do you agree with me that you are already the best QB in history?"
Peyton Manning was laughing during the question, but Daniel Jones kind of uncomfortably sat and listened with a smile on his face. He looked nervous, and his answer implied he was as well. Or maybe Jones just doesn't get dry humor.
The Colts' current QB1 awkwardly chuckled and said, "That's your take, huh? Three games...three games...That's your take? OK, um...I don't know if I can go that far yet. It's been a good start for us."
One can safely assume that Jones is well aware that Peyton Manning played for Indy and led the team to a Super Bowl victory while also being voted as the NFL's MVP four times (he would win a fifth MVP with the Denver Broncos in 2013). But Jones didn't act as if he knew.
The easy answer for him would have been to say, after Eli's obvious joke, "Well, there's a pretty great Colts quarterback here, too." Or just to pass it off as if he knew it was a joke.
Daniel Jones is a smart guy, and he almost certainly was aware that Eli Manning was making a joke, but Danny Dimes didn't act as if he knew. Most likely, the Indianapolis Colts' current starting quarterback was just more nervous than he would have been had he been playing a game. That's not a bad thing.