Two of the NY Giants’ most important players, quarterback Daniel Jones and Blake Martinez’ availability for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals remains an open question.
The NY Giants officially listed quarterback Daniel Jones and inside linebacker Blake Martinez as questionable for Sunday’s NFL Week 14 game against the Arizona Cardinals.
Jones was sidelined for last week’s victory over the Seattle Seahawks due to a right hamstring injury suffered in the second half of Week 12 against the Cincinnati Bengals. The encouraging news for Jones is that he was a full participant in Friday’s practice, a key hurdle in head coach Joe judge’s decision-making process ahead of Sunday.
“I’m more concerned with how his body responds as far as soreness goes,” Judge said prior to Friday’s practice. “I don’t want to see it roll over one day over an another and stack up that’s going to be something negative on Sunday. We’ll see how he moves, relative to yesterday, just to be sure he’s functional and can protect himself.”
Last Sunday, the Giants didn’t rule Jones out until after pre-game warmups when the inactives were released. Judge hopes to make a decision much sooner this time around.
“In a perfect world I’d like to make the decision before game day,” Judge said. “I’d like to know tonight, at the latest. For myself. If we have to go into it tomorrow and do something more with the trainers, so be it. But, I normally don’t like to do things like that with guys on Saturday.”
Colt McCoy would make his second consecutive start, if Jones is unable to play.
Meanwhile, Martinez was knocked from last week’s game in the second half with a back injury and has yet to practice this week.
If Martinez can’t go, it will be free safety Logan Ryan who wears the headset in his helmet and makes the defense’s calls. Should Martinez be unable to play, that would certainly make the task of containing Cardinals mobile quarterback Kyler Murray all the more difficult.
“This guy Murray is true speed,” Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said Thursday. “When I’m talking to the players, true speed. Not fast, not quick, we’re dealing with true speed. Any mistake, it can be a touchdown at any given moment. That’s what you’re dealing with, with this guy.”
If Martinez is unable to go, look for rookies Tae Crowder and Cam Brown to play extended snaps.
The Giants and Cardinals kickoff at 1 p.m. Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
Matt Lombardo is the site expert for GMenHQ, and writes Between The Hash Marks each Wednesday for FanSided. Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattLombardoNFL.