New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones’ season ended on Sunday after he left in the second quarter of New York’s 30-6 loss to the Raiders.
Jones, who signed a four-year, $160 million contract with the Giants in the offseason, suffered a torn right ACL when he went down without being hit.
The 26-year-old missed the previous three games because of a neck injury, and now, he will miss the rest of the season and possibly parts of next season.
On Wednesday, Jones discussed how he injured his right knee.
“That play before the end of the first quarter, I just tried to make a cut, felt my knee kind of shift a little bit, kind of buckle in a different way,’ Jones said. “Wasn’t exactly sure what it was, just knew it kind of felt different. And then, tried to jog on it, do some light cutting in between the quarters and it felt okay, so I went back out there. I got to the top of my drop, felt that same kind of kind of shift and buckle in my leg, my knee kind of gave out a little bit there. So, I knew something was up at that point. I had to go in and get checked out.”
According to Jones, he has not set a date for surgery, but he expects to have the surgery in the coming weeks.
After making the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and winning a postseason game for the first time since 2011, many expected the Giants to be playoff contenders in 2023; however, injuries have hurt this team. Their best offensive lineman, LT Andrew Thomas, just returned after missing multiple games with a hamstring injury. In addition, Saquon Barkley missed a few games with an ankle injury, and tight end Darren Waller was placed on injured reserve last week due to a hamstring injury. Plus, multiple offensive linemen have gone down with injuries, and now they lost their starting quarterback.
Jones talked about how he’s feeling emotionally after the injury.
“I mean, it’s tough, for sure,” Jones said. “You put a lot into the season; you put a lot into preparing to play, and to get it taken from you through an injury is definitely tough. That’s real, and that’s something that you deal with as a player, but it’s part of the game at this level. At any level, really, it’s something that you have to deal with, and part of it. I understand that, and it’s unfortunate, but I can’t afford to feel sorry for myself or sulk. It’s part of it, and I’ll be fine. I’ll bounce back, attack the rehab process like I have anything else, and come back stronger.”
Giants coach Brian Daboll says Tommy DeVito will be the team’s starting quarterback when the Giants head to Dallas to face the Cowboys on Sunday. At this point, the 2-7 Giants are one of the worst teams in football and will probably be in line for a high pick in the 2024 draft, which means they could grab USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye, which could mean that Jones may have played his last down in New York.
However, at this point, Jones is just focused on getting healthy.
“I’m focused on what I’m doing right now and what I can control and what’s in front of me, and that’s this rehab process, my knee, healing that up and then doing everything I can to help this team finish strong and play well,” Jones said. “That’s what I’m focused on, and I’m excited to watch these guys finish.”
After eight games, the New York Giants are 2-6, and they have not had much good news this season, but they got some decent news on Monday.
Head coach Brian Daboll told reporters late Monday morning that Daniel Jones has been officially cleared for contact by team doctors. The exam occurred before yesterday’s game against the Jets, and the starting quarterback will practice fully on Wednesday when the Giants begin preparing for Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Jones has been sidelined for three weeks due to a neck injury he suffered in the fourth quarter of a Week 5 game in Miami.
Despite returning to practice as a limited participant the last two weeks, Jones was inactive while backup Tyrod Taylor started in his place.
As for Taylor, the veteran quarterback departed Sunday’s contest with an injury early in the second quarter. After the game, the Giants announced that Taylor was taken to Hackensack University Medical Center for further examination and testing, where it was determined he suffered an injury to his rib cage. Taylor spent the night at HUMC for observation. He was released from HUMC early Monday afternoon.
“He’s got ribs,” Daboll said. “I’m not going to get into what they are. He’s pretty sore right now.”
With Jones and Taylor out yesterday, the Giants turned to Tommy DeVito. The undrafted rookie quarterback finished the game 2 of 7 passing for minus-1 yard and added four rushes for 12 yards and his first NFL touchdown. DeVito was also sacked twice for losses totaling nine yards.
Daboll did not dismiss the possibility of the Giants adding another quarterback with Taylor’s status in question.
On Sunday, in the battle of New York between the Jets(4-3) and Giants (2-6), the Giants were one yard away from winning their third game of the season. The Giants played most of the game without either of their top two quarterbacks. Daniel Jones missed his third consecutive game with a neck injury. His replacement Tyrod Taylor, suffered a rib injury in the second quarter, and undrafted rookie free agent Tommy DeVito had to play the rest of the way
With 28 seconds to go, the Giants led 10-7 and had a 4th and one from the Jets’ 17-yard line. The Giants had been running the ball well all day against the Jets and racked up 203 rushing yards. If they get the first down, the game is over. If they make the field goal, the Jets would have to score a touchdown to win.
Ultimately, Giants coach Brian Daboll decided to kick the field goal, and the unthinkable happened: Graham Gano missed a very makeable 35-yard field goal. Gano missed two field goals on Sunday.
The Jets, who struggled on offense all game long, were able to drive 58 yards, and Greg Zuerlein would make 35-yard at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
In the extra session, Zuerlein would make a 33-yard field goal, and the Jets would win 13-10 in OT.
After the game, Daboll was asked about his decision to kick the field goal.
“Kick a field goal there, and they have 24 seconds with no timeouts, and they need a touchdown,” he said. “So, counted on making the field goal, and then they’d have 24 seconds with no time outs, still have to drive it the length, and our defense was playing well all game. That’s why I made the decision.”
Before their game-tying drive in regulation, the Jets had struggled on offense. After scoring a touchdown in the first quarter, the Jets either punted, had a fumble, or a turnover on downs, which led to Daboll’s decision to kick the field goal.
“It’s a decision that we made to try to kick a field goal with Graham(Gano),” Daboll said. “Our defense was—they were like, 0-for-12 on third down. They were playing well. That’s the decision we made. It didn’t work out.”
Jets coach Robert Saleh thought kicking the field goal was the right move.
“I felt like kicking the field goal was the right thing to do,” he said. “You make it a touchdown lead, no timeouts, 30 seconds left. I probably would have done the same thing.”
Saquon Barkley, who rushed for 128 yards on a career-high 36 carries, wanted the ball in that spot, but he’s okay with Daboll’s decision.
“We have Graham Gano, one of the greatest kickers of all time to be honest,” Barkley said. “That’s life, sometimes it doesn’t go your way, but we’re going to continue to have faith in him. We had faith in him coming into that moment, and we’ll continue to have faith in him after that moment. That’s football. That’s life. It didn’t go our way and that’s the situation, but as a competitor – yeah you want the ball, but I’m not going to harp in that situation. I’ve got to find a way to get the first down before that.”
In hindsight, it wasn’t the right call, but in all reality, Daboll made the right call. The Jets were not scoring a touchdown in that spot. In fact, it’s shocking that the Jets were able to get in position to kick the game-tying field goal.
Regarding the Jets, their defense is carrying this team. They have now won three straight, and they are finding ways to win games. Zach Wilson(17/36, 240 yards, touchdown) found a way late in regulation and OT.
In the future, they will need Wilson to make a few more plays, and if he can do that, the Jets can make the playoffs.
Notes:
-Both offenses struggled on Sunday; the Giants and Jets converted only four of 34 third-down opportunities, including zero on 18 attempts in the first half.
-The teams combined for 24 punts, the highest total in an NFL game since Oct. 11, 1998, when the Raiders and Chargers punted 27 times
-Kayvon Thibodeaux recorded a career-high 3.0 sacks of Zach Wilson to raise his team-leading total to 8.5 – more than twice his rookie total of 4.0.
For the third straight game, the New York Giants will be without starting quarterback Daniel Jones(neck).
Tyrod Taylor, who is 1-1 as a starter this season, will again start in his place when the Giants host the Jets on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
Coach Brian Daboll announced Friday morning that the team’s medical staff told him Jones will be unable to play. Jones injured his neck in the fourth quarter of the Giants’ loss in Miami on Oct. 8. He did not play two weeks ago in Buffalo and last week in a victory at home against Washington.
Daboll revealed that Jones had taken scout team reps in practice (against the Giants’ defense). He declined to speculate when Jones will return to the lineup.
“I’d just say we are on this week, and we will see what happens next week,” Daboll said. “He’s getting better. He’s getting better.
“He’s throwing; he feels better every day. He’s done a good job here of the things that he can do out here on the practice field and take it one day at a time. But he’s getting closer.”
Jones spoke to the media on Wednesday.
“I feel a lot better than I did after the injury,” he said. “Continue to improve week-by-week and day-by-day even. I’m feeling better and focused on continuing to do that.”
At that point, Jones appears to be able to do everything but get hit, and he hasn’t been cleared to participate in situations where that could happen.
“I can do pretty much everything,” he said. “I can throw, I can run, I can lift. It’s just a contact thing.”
In 2021, a neck injury forced Jones to miss the final five games of the season, and on Friday, Daboll was asked if he thinks Jones will play again this year.
“He’s getting better, and we’ll see where he is next week, Daboll said. “I don’t have a crystal ball with injuries, but he is getting better, and we’ll see where he is next week.”
Other news:
*Running back Gary Brightwell will also miss the game on Sunday. He injured his hamstring last week vs. Washington.
On Sunday night, the New York Giants(1-5) lost their fourth straight game as they fell to the Bills 14-9.
Without their starting quarterback, Daniel Jones(neck), and few other starters, New York, who were heavy underdogs to the Bills, battled hard.
New York has struggled in the first half this season, but in this contest, the Giants led at halftime, 6-0, shutting out a team that had scored 88 first-half points in its first five games.
While the Giants played well on defense, they struggled offensively and did not score an offensive touchdown for the third consecutive game.
Taylor, who started his first game since 2021, completed 24 of 36 passes for 200 yards. He also rushed for 24 yards on five carries.
On Monday, Giants head coach Brian Daboll discussed the play of Taylor against his former team.
“I think Tyrod did a good job,” Daboll said. “Threw the ball on time, made some good throws down the sideline to (wide receiver Darius) Slayton, got the ball out of his hands even when there was some pressure so did a good job of leading his team. Obviously, the team thing of 0-for-5 in the redzone, that’s a team thing, so something we’ve go to work on but continue to do that, but I thought Tyrod acquitted himself well.”
Daboll was asked if Jones were healthy would he start against the Commanders next Sunday, but he did not engage.
No matter what happens, the 13-year veteran says he’ll be ready.
“I come into the building each and every day challenging myself to be better, preparing as a starter,” Taylor said after Sunday’s game. “Whatever happens, happens. Obviously, DJ (quarterback Daniel Jones) is the captain of our team, leader on our offense, and our team as well, too. Wish him recovery in everything that he’s going through, but if it’s me, then obviously I’m stepping up to the plate, putting my best foot forward and leading the guys, and if it’s not me, then I’m still in that same position supporting him and doing whatever I can do to help better this team.”
In all reality, if Jones is healthy, he should be the starter. There’s no controversy here.
New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones did not practice on Wednesday as the team prepares to travel to Buffalo to battle the Bills on Sunday.
Jones left last Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins after injuring neck in the fourth quarter.
On Wednesday, Jones said he still was sore but hopes to play against Buffalo.
Giants head coach Brian Daboll says he’ll have to see how things go with Jones in the next few days to determine if he’ll play on Sunday.
“I’d just say let’s let it play out here,” Daboll said. “Today, he’s not practicing. We’ll see how he is the next day, then the next day after that, and then I think we’ll take this all the way to the end of the week.”
The fifth-year quarterback had an MRI on Monday, but he wouldn’t discuss the results.
“Yeah, it wasn’t negative,” Jones said about the MRI. “I think as far as what exactly the MRI said, I’m not going to discuss that necessarily, but it wasn’t negative necessarily, and like I said, I’ll continue to get better every day.”
Jones has been sacked 16 times in two weeks, so he has taken a lot of hits, and based on his style of play and how things are going in terms of the offensive line, he’ll probably take some more hits against the Bills.
It’s a contact sport, it’s a physical sport, so I think the idea is to recover and be healed,” Jones said. “That’s the idea. So, I’m trying to get there as soon as possible so I can get back out there.”
In 2021, the Giants signal-caller missed six games with a neck injury; however, he thinks this injury is not the same.
“Like I said, I think it’s a different injury, it’s a different circumstance,” he said. So, I’m not really comparing it to that a couple years ago, but this was the advice from the doctors and trainers, so I’m going to follow it.”
If Jones can’t go, backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who got the first-team reps at practice on Wednesday, would get the start against his former team. Daboll is confident in Taylor.
“Well, he’s a pro,” Daboll said. “He’s done this a long time. He’s played in a variety of systems. He prepares every week like he’s going to play. He’s a true pro. He’ll be out there today getting all the reps.”
No matter who plays, the Giants, who have lost three straight, must protect the quarterback; otherwise, their season will continue to slip away.
In the NFL, the game is won in the trenches. In the last two weeks, the Giants have lost the battle of the trenches.
Last week, in their loss to the Seahawks, the Giants allowed 11 sacks, and on Sunday against the Dolphins, New York continued having issues protecting their quarterback. Ultimately, Daniel Jones, who left in the fourth quarter with a neck injury, was sacked six times, and New York would lose to the Dolphins 31-16 at Hard Rock Stadium.
With the loss, the Giants(1-4) have lost three straight. After the game, the concern was Jones, and tight end Darren Waller hopes for the best.
“We love him(Jones) to death,” Waller said. “To see any of your brothers go down is not a good feeling. Football is a violent game. I don’t think people take into account that if you make it healthy out of any game, it’s a blessing. Just praying that it’s not anything serious for him and we can get him back as soon as possible.”
According to Jones, he had an X-ray, which the team is continuing to review, and he will get an MRI on Monday.
In the last two games, Jones has been sacked 16 times; that’s a lot of sacks, and head coach Brian Daboll knows New York must do more to protect its quarterback.
“Affecting the quarterback plays an important role in the game, and we got to figure out a way to protect him better,” Daboll said.
Despite the hits and leaving the game, Jones, who completed 14/20 passes for 119 yards on Sunday, says he’s feeling fine.
“I think we played some physical games against physical defenses,” he said. “I think we all probably feel it. That’s football; that’s part of the game. I’m feeling fine.”
In 2021, Jones missed six games with a neck injury, but he’s not focused on that.
“Like I said, I’m not going to get wrapped up in that kind of stuff at this point,” Jones said. “I think I’m going to see where we’re at tomorrow and go from there.”
Hopefully, for the Giants, Jones will be fine going forward, but more importantly, the Giants need to do a better job protecting him; however, despite New York being 1-4, Jones is confident they can turn things around.
“We’ve got a lot of the work to do,” Jones said. “We’re in a tough spot, but we got the guys to do it. Confident we can bounce back. We got put the work in, and it’s about what we do on the field.”
The New York Giants had another ugly loss at MetLife Stadium as they fell to the Seahawks 24-3 on Monday night.
This season, the Giants have been outscored 64-3 at home, and overall, in the first half, New York has been outscored 77-9.
After four weeks, the Giants are 1-3, and in the next two weeks, New York will go on the road against the Dolphins and Bills. There’s still a lot of football left, but they could be 1-5 after six weeks, which would be disastrous.
Against the Seahawks, the Giants, who were missing Pro Bowl left tackle Andrew Thomas and center John Michael Schmitz, who left in the first quarter and did not return, allowed a season-high 11 sacks. Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was under constant pressure, and he struggled mightily.
Jones completed 27 of 34 passes for 203 yard, two interceptions, and a fumble. One of Jones’ interceptions was a bad one; Devon Witherspoon picked him off and he returned it 97 yards for a touchdown, which made the score 21-3 and pretty much ended the game.
Following the loss, Jones explained the interception.
“I just felt like the coverage was soft, trying to find someone in the zone, and yeah, obviously, terrible decision and awful mistake, so I can’t afford to do that,” he said.
After the pick, Giants head Brian Daboll was visibly upset as the camera showed him throwing down the tablet while talking to Jones.
“I was trying to show him … kind of see what he thought, and then I tell him what I saw,” Daboll said.
Jones added: “I think we’re all frustrated, so I know I’ve got to play better, and I’m going to work as hard as I possibly can to do that.”
These are scary times for the Giants; they started the year with a lot of expectations. In addition, Jones got a big contract, but in fairness to him, it’s hard to succeed when you get sacked ten times; however, they expected him to be just as good as he was a year ago, if not better.
Remember, the Giants still have to play the NFC champion, the Philadelphia Eagles twice, and the Cowboys again, so they have to start winning and start winning now.
The New York Giants(1-2) ended their two-game West Coast road trip 1-1 after falling to the San Francisco 49ers(3-0), 30-12, on Thursday night.
New York was without star running back Saquon Barkley(ankle) and left tackle Andrew Thomas(hamstring), and that vaunted 49ers’ defense gave the Giants fits.
Without those two critical pieces, the Giants rushed for only 29 yards and had 150 total yards, their lowest output since 2013. In addition, they had only ten first downs.
“No excuses,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said after the game. “We could do a better job.”
Daniel Jones, who struggled on Thursday night, completed 22 of 32 passes for 137 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. According to him, the team could not take advantage of opportunities.
“We just didn’t make enough plays,” Jones said. Obviously, it’s a good defense, going up against them and credit to them. They play well, but we have to convert a couple of those opportunities. When you play a good team like that, you have to be crisp. We have to be clean, and we didn’t do that.”
For the third straight week, the Giants have trailed at halftime; they have been outscored 63-6 in the first half this season. Those bad starts are hard to come back from. Jones says the team has to figure it out.
“Yes, it’s not what we’re trying to do, so we have to find a way to figure that out,” he said. “Execute better early in the game, finish in the end zone, take advantage of opportunities, but it comes down to making plays and executing better in those situations.”
After three weeks, the Giants have fallen to two teams, the Cowboys and 49ers, who are two of the better teams in the NFC; in reality, both games were not very close, so it’s safe to say this team is just not as good as the top teams in the NFC. However, there’s still a lot of football to be played.
The Giants get back at it next Monday night at home against the Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium.
On Sunday, the New York Giants(1-1) went into halftime trailing the Arizona Cardinals(0-2) 20-0. At that point, it appeared that the Giants were on their way to falling to 0-2.
The Giants, who were routed by the Cowboys 40-0 in Week 1, were the first team to surrender at least 60 points in a season before scoring since 1978.
However, the second half was a much different story for the Giants. New York trailed 28-7 in the third quarter, but they would score 24 straight points and take the lead on a Graham Gano 34-yard field goal as they defeated Arizona 31-28 at State Farm Stadium.
The last time New York came back from a 21-point deficit was in 1949.
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and the offense struggled mightily in the first half. The team had zero points and had only 81 yards of total yards.
However, n the second half, Jones woke up. He completed 17/21 passes for 259 yards and two touchdowns. In addition, he scored a touchdown on the ground. Jones ended the night completing 26/37 passes for 317 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception(first half). He also added 59 yards on the ground.
The Giants finished the game with 439 total yards, the second-highest total of the 21-game Brian Daboll era and the most they’ve had in a victory.
Daboll was happy with how Jones finished the game.
“Yeah, I thought he finished strong,” Daboll said. “Played a really good second half. We had a couple of things that we could have improved on in the first half, (we) talked about those. But he is a resilient young man who went out there and played well along with, I’d say, a number of people.”
Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard was also impressed by Jones’ resiliency.
“It’s resiliency,” Shepard said. “It’s something that we talk about all the time too. Those are two guys that are very competitive and want to win, and they play with a lot of heart and passion. That’s exactly what was just played.”
Jones, who improved to 8-1-1 in his last ten games following a loss (since Week 7, 2021), felt the team needed to execute better in the second half, which they did.
“I think it’s about execution, and you can’t really afford to think about any of that or get emotional or think about anything outside of what your job is, and that’s to execute and focus on one play at a time and being right there in that play and making sure you’re taking advantage of it and making good decisions, giving guys chances to make plays. That was my focus, and I thought we did that well as a team.”
New York avoided disaster on Sunday. This would have been a terrible loss but credit to Jones and the rest of this team for getting things right in the second half.
Saquon Barkley:
Barkley led the Giants with 63 rushing yards on 17 carries, including a one-yard touchdown run, and tied with Darren Waller for the team lead with six receptions (for 29 yards, including a nine-yard score).
However, late in the game, Barkley injured his right ankle. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Barkley is scheduled to undergo an MRI on the ankle Monday in Arizona to determine the severity of his injury and how much time he could miss.
