Daniel Jones

As everyone knows by now, the New York Giants are dealing with another problem on the quarterback front. Daniel Jones came into the last game with a hamstring injury, but that’s been upgraded into an additional ankle injury on top of the original one after Jones took a few too many hits against the Cardinals. It’s believed that Jones was injured further while taking a hit in that game, and now his status is again in doubt going into an important game with the nine win Browns.

Daniel Jones didn’t move well during the open portion of Wednesday’s practice. Even backpedaling during stretching. After a throw or two you could see his leg jolt a bit. Clearly affected by double leg injuries.

Colt McCoy took more work than usual. #giants pic.twitter.com/Qv8RmbRkSl

— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) December 16, 2020

Jones didn’t look the best on practice on Wednesday, which is already a red flag that he might not be in a good spot to start by the time Sunday night comes. After all, we all saw how Jones played against Arizona after being limited in practice all week.

But should the team sit Jones for the rest of the season and guarantee that his health doesn’t decline further?

Looking ahead for the Giants

The Giants only have three games left in the season and are currently in second place against the NFC East. Right now, they haven’t been eliminated from the playoffs. But if they aren’t at peak performance, that could happen easily. Washington will make it in if they win out, and the Giants need to win more than Washington in the final weeks to surpass them.

Jones was expected to be over his injury after the Arizona game, but taking too many hits due to the offensive line and his lack of mobility in that game dealt him another injury. If the Giants start him against Cleveland while he’s still low on mobility, it would be hard to guarantee that doesn’t happen again.

Sitting Jones doesn’t look like the best option for the Giants to make it into the playoffs. After all, Colt McCoy hasn’t shone as brightly while replacing him, and the Seattle game was largely won by the defense. Unlike some other teams, the Giants don’t have a true competitor to Jones waiting in the wings. However, the assumption that starting Jones will help the team win is based on the idea that Jones is healthy.

We saw what happened when Jones played hurt against Arizona, and playing hurt against Cleveland could easily end the same way. Furthermore, it could result in another injury or aggravate one of the ones Jones is dealing with right now. And if that happens, the Giants will likely still be dealing with the same problem going into the critical last two weeks.

Should Jones start on Sunday?

If Jones couldn’t play well with a hamstring injury, it’s doubtful that he can do so while playing with both a hamstring and an ankle injury. The Giants would be smart to sit him here, even if it makes the offense look worse on paper. As for the rest of the season, that may depend on whether or not Jones can recover quickly enough following the Cleveland game – as well as the result.

Should the team pull off an upset win, they’ll be in a better position to make the playoffs than they were coming into the game. It may be worth bringing Jones back at that point and taking more of a risk in the hunt for the critical wins they need in the last two games to have the best odds of making it in.

However, if the Giants lose, the best move might be sitting Jones for the last two games and allowing him to recover. While a loss here won’t eliminate the Giants, it does make their playoff situation a lot tougher. And sometimes, when the odds are against you, it’s best to know when to fold instead of forcing the issue.

There’s always next season, after all. But much of next season depends on Jones playing at his best and not spending the offseason dealing with injury recovery because the Giants carelessly started him through the end of the year and let him get injured further.

The New York Giants chose to start Daniel Jones before he was ready against the Cardinals, and the result was a loss which threw them out of first place in the division. This decision has been debated and it’s safe to say that there’s some merit on both sides of the argument. On one hand, Jones wasn’t ready to play again and his lackluster performance played into the team’s loss. On the other hand, the Giants don’t have a backup QB on a similar skill level and would have been forced to start Colt McCoy again if they hadn’t started Jones.

But as for the stance of the team itself, it looks like the important figures surrounding the decision are still confident that they made the right one.

“No, I have no regrets on playing him. We made a calculated decision based on what he could do as a player. We went out there, and as a team, we have to execute better,” head coach Joe Judge told reporters about the decision to start Jones.

Jones played for 90% of the team’s offensive snaps but threw for a season worst 11 completions on 21 attempts. In the passing yards statistic, he also had his second worst performance of the season behind his one in week six against Washington. While he avoided throwing an interception, he also threw for no touchdowns and lost one fumble after being sacked by former Giant Markus Golden.

It remains to be seen what the status of Jones is going into next week’s Sunday night game against the Browns, but with Cleveland having nine wins so far this season, they pose a tough challenge and the Giants will have far better odds of putting up a competitive performance if Jones is healthier than he was against Arizona.

From a naked eye perspective, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones didn’t do nearly enough to help his team win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon. Falling 26-7, the Giants’ offense sputtered to get anything going, finishing the game with 145 passing yards and 78 rushing yards.

Jones was unable to spark the offense, despite dealing with a hamstring injury that severely limited his mobility. After the contest, Jones even admitted that he was hobbled by his hamstring, failing to pick up even a single yard with his legs against Arizona.

It was clear that offensive coordinator Jason Garrett did not feel comfortable utilizing him in his normal way, activating RPO’s and flushing him out of the pocket. DJ stood in the pocket for far too long, going down six times, as the OL allowed eight sacks on the day.

Ultimately, the decision to start Jones was tumultuous from the beginning. Garrett had to slash his playbook in half, and the second-year quarterback simply isn’t a good enough passer to stand in the pocket and get the job done. He’s unable to throw open his receivers and was clearly stalling through his progressions. At one point, he missed a wide-open Dion Lewis on the left side of the field, forcing the ball in the flat to Evan Engram, which resulted in an incompletion.

The New York Giants should’ve taken a safer route:

From my perspective, if Jones wasn’t healthy enough to get the job done in multiple ways, he shouldn’t have played at all. His inability to move hurt the offense and crippled their time of possession.

The Arizona Cardinals had 38 minutes of possession compared to the Giants’ 22. They picked up 22 first downs while the Giants earned only 10. That is not even mentioning the fact that Jones fumbled three times, watching his problems resurface after several weeks of forward momentum.

Conclusively, I think the coaching staff’s decision to play Jones was actually a negative thing. Colt McCoy managed to do just enough to help them over the hump against Seattle, completing some timely passes down the stretch.

While Jones didn’t throw any interceptions, his fumbling was once again a serious problem. However, he can’t be blamed for all of it, as the OL was atrocious in the contest, allowing eight sacks as previously mentioned and Hasson Reddick, linebacker for Arizona, set a franchise record of five sacks.

The Giants will be trying to forget this game quickly, but they will have to endure a harsh week of film work first.

The New York Giants put forth an embarrassing performance against the Arizona Cardinals in week 14, coming off a major win over the Seattle Seahawks.

After most believed the Giants had turned the corner and became a solid team, reality smacked us right in the face. The Giants’ offense only posted seven points against an average Arizona defense, and it is clear that Big Blue has a long way to go before they can be considered an above-average team.

Three major takeaways in the New York Giants’ loss to Arizona:

1.) Daniel Jones was not fit to play

It was clear from the beginning that offensive coordinator Jason Garrett was limiting Daniel Jones and his playcalling. It seems as if he axed half the playbook to keep Jones safe in the pocket, but the offensive line allowed eight sacks on the day and Jones fumbled three times. He finished with only 127 yards, not picking up a single rushing yard.

If Jones wasn’t fully healthy to make a return, the Giants should never have put him in a position to fail. Not only was this a confidence crushing decision, but the Giants now have plenty of terrible film to look at. At the very least, Colt McCoy could’ve provided some sort of athleticism where Jones was simply trapped in the pocket with very limited mobility.

Nonetheless, Arizona dialed up a perfect game plan against the Giants, utilizing their athleticism on defense to take advantage of a young offensive front. Left tackle Andrew Thomas had a tough day, and right tackle  Cam Fleming was also beaten up on multiple occasions. Not only did the Giants lose massively in time of possession, but they turned the ball over three times.

2.) The Giants didn’t commit to the run

Last week, Wayne Gallman rushed for 135 yards, averaging 8.4 yards per carry. This week, he rushed for 57 yards and 4.8 yards per carry. That is still a solid average, and the Giants should’ve committed more to him, keeping the defense off the field and Daniel Jones from throwing the football.

Instead, Johns threw the ball 21 times, but it was a time of possession that severely limited their ability to call plays efficiently. While Arizona had 37:52 of possession, the Giants had just 22:08. Running the football is their bread and butter, and they didn’t do a good enough job relying on it, which ultimately led to turnovers and eight sacks this week and an unacceptable number that the Giants must take care of moving forward.

3.) Special Teams remains a problem

For the third consecutive game, the Giants’ special-teams unit hurt their chances at winning. Kick returner Dion Lewis fumbled in the first quarter, giving Arizona possession in the red zone, in which they tacked on three points.

The Giants didn’t earn a single punt return, even went Jabrill Peppers had room in front of him to spare, he called a fair catch. They allowed an average of 12.8 yards per return to Arizona and a long of 24. They simply haven’t done a good enough job on punts, and their kick return defense has been skeptical at best.

If this phase of the game isn’t solved soon, it will be a deciding factor for them when it comes to making the playoffs. This is a major loss for the Giants, but there was always going to be some hiccups during this four-game stretch against winning opponents.

The New York Giants managed one win without their starting quarterback when they took down the Seahawks in Seattle, but not many fans want them to try repeating the task of winning with a backup. Even though the Giants pulled out a win, it was clear they needed Daniel Jones for their passing attack to get back to what it could be. However, they may just have to put Colt McCoy in for at least one more game thanks to Jones still being questionable because of his hamstring injury.

Questionable is how he was listed on the Friday injury report for the Giants, and with only one day to practice left before the game, things aren’t looking so great on this front. A hamstring injury, of course, can have varying recovery times. Some players have bounced back from them very quickly and other times players have been taken out for months by them. It depends on the severity of the injury. With Jones, it was originally assumed he would only miss up to a week. But that may not have been an accurate prediction.

Giants show little indication that Jones will start

“Look, I’m fairly optimistic. At the same time, there is a ways to go and we have to be fair to him. I’m going to talk with the trainers and medical team and coaches to make sure we’re all on the same page and do the right thing by this guy,” Giants head coach Joe Judge said on Friday about the injury situation.

If they do have to start Colt McCoy, they’ll be putting in a player that went 13 for 22 with 105 yards, a single touchdown, and a single interception last Sunday. Despite McCoy’s best effort, it was largely the defense that won the game for the Giants.

It doesn’t look like the Giants are trying to rush Jones back as fast as possible, and are preserving his health instead. That’s despite the fact that, for the first time in years, these December games mean something for the team’s playoff hopes.

The Cardinals are a 6-6 team headed into this game, so it doesn’t appear the Giants are entirely out of it if they have to start McCoy once again. But unless the passing attack improves without Jones, all other areas of the team will have to have peak performance for the team to win.

Defending himself, that is the mantra New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has accepted ever since entering his hamstring two weeks ago against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Despite the Giants traveling to Seattle knowing they would start back up quarterback Colt McCoy, the team still managed to extract an improbable victory over a winning opponent. The Giants’ victory was the first of any NFC East team against a winning squad, propelling the Giants to first place before the Washington Football Team secured a massive upset over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night.

Jones has gone 2.5 games without turning the ball over, the longest streak of his career. The Giants’ running game has picked up the slack in recent weeks, posting four consecutive games with 140+ rushing yards. As they prepare to face off against the Arizona Cardinals, who have been slaughtered by the run this year, there is hope that Daniel Jones can make a comeback this upcoming weekend.

According to ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, the Giants are hoping Daniel Jones can make a return against Arizona:

“We’re going to give him every opportunity to go on the practice field this week and show that he can defend himself on the field properly,” Giants coach Joe Judge said. “If that’s the case, then we obviously want him to play. But we’re going to make sure we do the right thing by him.

“Look, I had to make the decision [Sunday at Seattle] to go ahead and hold him out. He was a little disappointed because he’s a competitive guy. But we have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to get on the field. We’ll see how he looks in there, and we’ll make the best decision for him going forward.”

As a competitor, Jones wants to play in every game despite his injuries. So far this season, DJ has thrown for 2,335 yards, eight touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He has also rushed for 403 yards and one score. Fortunately, his fumbling problem has been improved, cutting his total by 11 compared to 2019.

He will look to finish off the season strong, making significant progress in his development this year, which was essential for the Giants as they contemplate a quarterback decision for the future. With the Giants now in line to make the postseason, Jones remains an integral part of their game plan, and beating Arizona has become ever more important.