NY Giants should sit Daniel Jones for the rest of this season
There’s little to be gained for the NY Giants from playing Daniel Jones, as he continues to seek clarity on a neck injury that kept him out for at least three games
It’s time for the NY Giants to sit Daniel Jones for the rest of the season.
Playing Jones, through a neck injury is needlessly reckless for his and the franchise’s future.
Entering Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Giants are 4-9 and in last place in the NFC East, and on the verge of being officially eliminated from the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season.
Jones has missed the last two games, will miss Sunday’s clash against the division rival Dallas Cowboys, and has seen specialists in Los Angeles and Manhattan, seeking opinions on a neck injury suffered against Philadelphia three weeks ago.
Despite withstanding a nearly constant barrage of pressure — on precisely 23 percent of his dropbacks, absorbing hits on 10 percent of his passing attempts, Jones has shown improved command of the offense and from the pocket.
Still, Jones has completed a career-high 64.3 percent of his passes but for just 2,428 yards with 10 touchdowns to seven interceptions.
How the NY Giants view Jones moving forward from here might already be complicated by the very real chance that it will potentially be a new general manager evaluating Jones’ future, and whether investing potentially two top-10 picks in next spring’s draft in building around him or trading for his replacement offers more upside.
If Jones aggravates his neck injury, that decision would be made easier, but could also derail whatever trade value existed for the three-year starter.
Jones was sent to a specialist in Los Angeles while the team prepared for the week in Tucson ahead of Sunday’s loss to the Chargers, for further evaluation, but has yet to be cleared to take contact, and flew home early with head athletic trainer Ronnie Barnes for evaluation at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.
Sure, playing Jones against the Eagles, Bears, or Washington Football Team down the stretch might give him the opportunity to build some confidence going into next season or perhaps provide some clarity from an evaluation standpoint.
But, the risk in terms of aggravating the injury would seem to outweigh the reward of putting Jones back out there during the latter stages of a lost season.
Even if Jones was able to move around well in practice, as reports out of last week’s workouts at the University of Arizona suggest, exposing him to more contact and perhaps significant injury down the stretch does no good for anyone involved.
Continuing to play Jones behind a patchwork, and injury besieged offensive line would seemingly be playing with fire over the past month for a team that has minimal postseason aspirations for this season and so much uncertainty at the quarterback position beyond it.
This season was all about evaluating whether Jones is the long-term solution at quarterback, and while Jones has been statistically underwhelming, risking further injury that could put his career at risk would be counterproductive.