New York Post, Tuesday, December 1, 2020
nypost.com
By Paul SchwartzThe Giants could breathe eas-
ier Monday knowing their start-
ing quarterback avoided a long-
term hamstring injury. But they
cannot wave a magic wand and
instantly heal Daniel Jones,
which is why he is expected to
miss Sunday’s game against the
Seahawks in Seattle.
Jones underwent an MRI exam
at the Hospital for Special Sur-
gery, and while the imaging did
not reveal a completely torn right
hamstring, it did show a strain,
The Post confirmed. That injury
will need time to heal, making it
highly unlikely Jones will recover
in time to play this weekend.
That means Colt McCoy is
about to make his first start for
the Giants.
“There’s actually more ques-
tion marks than answers right
now, to be honest with you,’’
head coach Joe Judge said Mon-
day. “We got some of the infor-
mation back from the doctors but
a lot of that is, we’ve got to wait
and see how this guy responds in
a couple of days. Can he move
around the field and can he do
anything?’’
Jones will need to rest, receive
treatment and try to ease the dis-
comfort in his right leg. Perhaps
be will have to miss only one
game and be able to return Dec.
13 against the Cardinals at Met-
Life Stadium. Perhaps he needs
more time to heal. This is a soft-
tissue injury and there is no way
to fully know how Jones will re-
cuperate.
“I couldn’t give you an answer
whether it’s one week or more
than one week,’’ Judge said. “I’mnot qualified and the doctors I
talked to, they don’t have that
crystal ball to look through either
right now.’’
The Giants (4-7) moved into
first place in the NFC East with a
19-17 victory over the Bengals but
Jones did not come out of the
game unscathed. He hurt his
right hamstring on a designed
run that picked up 7 yards early
in the third quarter.
McCoy finished up for Jones in
Cincinnati and is expected to
start in Seattle. The Giants have
one other quarterback in their
program; Clayton Thorson is on
their practice squad and the
likely backup to McCoy against
the Seahawks. Thorson made a
Big Ten-record 53 consecutive
starts for Northwestern and was
a 2019 fifth-round draft pick of
the Eagles.
The Giants will look to sign an-
other quarterback as quickly as
possible to start COVID-19 pro-
tocols. Alex Tanney, a final-day
cut after training camp, is a free
agent and a logical option. The
Giants have already brought him
in to begin COVID-19 testing.
The Giants may have to protect
Jones from himself. Judge said
Jones on Monday experienced
swelling and tightness in the
hamstring, which is not a sur-
prise.
“Look, this is a tough dude,’’
Judge said. “He’s a tough guy and
he’s a very competitive guy and
he wants to be out there and if
we gave him the option todayhe’d jump out there and I’m
sure with duct tape on his
leg and try to go at it.’’
Judge laid out two prereq-
uisites before a player can
return from injury: Can the
player make the injury
worse by playing and can he
protect himself on the field if
he does play? The answers will
come back “yes’’ and “no’’ for
Jones this week.
Jones uses his legs as a weapon
— he leads the Giants in rushing
yards with 403 (Wayne Gallman
has 369) and limited mobility
would take away a large part of
the threat he poses to opposing
defenses.
Judge said a game plan could
be formulated to reduce Jones’
running, but only if Jones can
function in a game.
“If we felt this was something
he couldn’t hurt worse or some-
thing he could still go out there
and defend himself by just play-
ing maybe a little bit different
with the play-calling I would
have no issue putting him out
there,’’ Judge said. “There’s going
to be guys rushing at him to try
to take his head off. I want to
make sure I don’t put a guy out
there in a position where he can’t
defend himself. That’s just not
fair to him.
“He’s gonna go out there with a
lot of courage, he’s gonna want to
stand back there but we got to
evaluate and make sure we do
the right thing by him.’’
[email protected]whew! Though Daniel Jones suffered a strained hamstring
on Sunday against the Bengals, he appears to have avoided an
injury that would leave him sidelined for an extended period.