With the Cincinnati Bengals coming to MetLife Stadium on Sunday night, NY Giants fans are hoping to see the offense show some improvements with the regular season around the corner. Daniel Jones will be ready to light up the field against Cincy’s backups, which could give him some confidence. That is if he even suits up for this one.
As things stand, the injuries for the Giants are absolutely unreal. Things have gotten so bad for the squad, they’re down to their sixth center running with the first-team unit. That’s not an exaggeration, folks. Sixth.
With Jon Feliciano, Shane Lemieux and others banged up, the line can’t seem to stay healthy. In a showdown where the Bengals have already announced their starters won’t be playing, Brian Daboll 100 percent should have Jones follow suit and watch from the sidelines.
Giants coach Brian Daboll intended to play his starters + QB Daniel Jones on Sunday night vs. the Bengals. But … they’re on their sixth center. Their O-line is devastated by injury.
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) August 19, 2022
“At this point I do [think Jones plays], but we’re going to talk about it,” Daboll said.
Will NY Giants QB Daniel Jones start vs. the Bengals?
What in the world is there to think about? When nearly half of your starting offensive line isn’t able to feature, you’re going to be putting your QB at risk by sending him out there. No disrespect to center Max Garcia, but no one thought he’d even come close to getting valuable reps with the 1s at this point in the summer. He’s nowhere near the level of Feliciano and others at the spot.
While we understand you’d want Jones out there to keep working with the offense as a whole and grow his chemistry with his receivers against another defense, the risk just feels too high right now. Jones has battled injuries enough as it is. Imagine if he were to start vs. the Bengals – even if he’s in for only a series – and then goes down?
This is his make or break year. People are interested in seeing what Tyrod Taylor can do, and now is the perfect time to let the veteran signal-caller lead the team out onto the field and get some more quality snaps in.
Let Jones watch this one in street clothes and save him for the preseason finale once the line is in a little bit better shape. Daboll is paid the big bucks to make tough decisions for this team. This call on Jones seems pretty easy to us. He’s got no business starting against the Bengals. Give the pigskin to Taylor.