It was as close to a vote of confidence that the co-owner of a team that is 2-5 and mired in last place could make.
John Mara said Wednesday night that he has no plans to make a move — now or in the immediate future — with Giants general manager Joe Schoen or head coach Brian Daboll, despite the continued struggles of a team that is losing games and making scoring points into a mission: impossible.
“Obviously we’re all very disappointed with where we are right now,’’ Mara said. “But I’m gonna say one thing, we are not making any changes this season and I do not anticipate making any changes in the offseason either.
“I’m not gonna dissect individual players’ performances or the offense vs. the defense or anything like that. I just wanted to make that statement.
“There will be a time and a place after the season to talk about this in more detail.’’
Mara was speaking at an important and emotional event for himself and his family: The screening of “The Duke: Wellington Mara’s Giant Life’’ at the The Paley Center for Media.
The documentary chronicled the life of his father, franchise patriarch Wellington Mara, and will air Friday night on NFL Network as part of the ongoing commemoration of the Giants’ 100th season.
As he considered his father’s legacy, John Mara said he wanted to use a lesson he learned from him to stay the course.
“I think, to try to be more patient than maybe I’ve been in recent years,’’ Mara said. “He preached that all the time and I’ve probably been guilty of not being patient enough in recent years and that’s one of the reasons I’m committed to Joe and Brian Daboll and giving them a chance to turn this around.
“It’s very difficult because the last 10 or 12 years have not been very good for fans and it makes it particularly difficult. But you got to do the right thing and we’re committed to doing that and seeing this process through.’’
The Giants are on their way toward their eighth losing season in the last nine years — and the 10th losing season in the past 12 years.
The debut for Schoen and Daboll was a smash hit — the Giants went 9-7-1, won the franchise’s first playoff game since after the 2011 season and Daboll was named the NFL Coach of the Year.
Since then, it has been all downhill: 6-11 in 2023 and this year’s poor showings.
The Giants are alone in last place in the NFC East, 0-3 in the division and 0-4 at home, scoring only one touchdown in the four losses.
Mara was not patient when he fired Ben McAdoo before two full seasons.
Mara fired Pat Shurmur and Joe Judge after two seasons apiece.
Daboll is the first head coach to make it to a third year since Tom Coughlin was with the Giants for 12 years.
The evidence is starting to get incriminating, but Mara insists he remains steadfast that Schoen and Daboll can turn this around.
“Well just the process that they have, being in the meeting with them,’’ Mara said. “Where they see us going forward, talking about their evaluation of our personnel, I still have confidence in both of them.’’
Mara would not comment on the struggles of quarterback Daniel Jones.
“I’m not going to get into critiquing individual players,’’ he said. “It’s obviously — we’re struggling on offense right now but there are a lot of reasons for that.”
Mara back in the offseason listened as Schoen explained why not making a deep financial commitment to Saquon Barkley was in the best interest of the franchise.
Mara eventually accepted that thinking but he admitted he would not be able to sleep at night if Barkley signed with the Eagles.
Lo and behold, the day of reckoning arrived last Sunday, as Barkley went against his former team for the first time and ran for 176 yards and one touchdown in a 28-3 Eagles romp at MetLife Stadium.
“Listen, he knows how I feel about him,’’ Mara said of Barkley. “I can’t say I was surprised by the game that he had. We greeted each other before the game. He’s a great player. He not only was a great player for us but the way he represented us off the field is always something that I’ll appreciate him for and he knows that.’’
In the documentary, Wellington Mara could be seen hoisting Super Bowl trophies and celebrating great Giants moments.
The last Giants Super Bowl victory came after the 2011 season.
John Mara wants to relive those brighter times.
“More than you can ever know, believe me,’’ he said. “This has been difficult for me and for my family and particularly for our fans and that’s something that affects me the most.’’
