Daniel Jones held out of Wednesday's Giants practice
Daniel Jones of the New York Giants gets tackled by Miami's Bradley Chubb. Credit: Getty Images/Megan Briggs
These are lean times for the Giants.
After injuring his neck Sunday at Miami, Daniel Jones did not practice Wednesday.
Whether he can play Sunday night at Buffalo remains a question.
And if he can’t go, backup Tyrod Taylor would get the start.
The Giants are 1-4 and in a world of hurt.
This is how Jones described his situation: “Still a little bit sore but feeling better. Felt better every day since Sunday, so just continuing to listen to the doctors and trainers and trying to get better as quick as possible.”
Jones said he has “no concern” that this could be a long-term issue, and coach Brian Daboll left open the possibility that Jones could start Sunday.
“I’m focused on healing up, and I’m [still] a little sore today,” Jones said, “and I’m going to keep getting better throughout the week.”
He added that this is a different injury than the neck issue that ended his season with six games to go in 2021.
At that time, the Giants lost all six games without Jones and averaged just 9.3 points per game.
This time, the Giants believe they have a better backup situation in Taylor.
Daboll described Jones’ status as “day-to-day.”
“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,” Daboll said. “I’m not going to get into the exact details of it, but he is a little bit more sore today, so we’ll see where he is tomorrow.”
Daboll wouldn’t comment on the MRI or any other test results.
“His neck’s sore,” the coach said.
Whatever the case, Jones has taken a beating on the field. He has been sacked 28 times this season. Only Sam Howell of the Commanders, with 29, has taken more.
In talking to reporters, Jones said a few times that he is hoping to play.
“Yeah, the goal is still to play Sunday,” he said. “That’s certainly my goal and that’s what I’m working on, I’m preparing to play like I always would and taking the advice of the doctors and trainers.”
It may be that those medical folks decide that Jones needs to heal rather than to be on the field in Buffalo.
Which would open the door for Taylor.
“Obviously, as competitors, you get nicked up throughout the season, but we push through and battle through things," Taylor said. "[Jones is] one of our leaders in this locker room, one of our leaders on the offense, and obviously, if he can go, he’ll be ready to go."
As will Taylor.
He could play in an environment he knows well. He spent three seasons as a Bills quarterback.
“I don't think it’s any different for me,” Taylor said of his approach this week. “My mindset each and every day is to come in and challenge myself to be better, to lead, and when my opportunity is presented in front of me, to go out and make the best of it."
In a typical week, Taylor said he gets few, if any, first-team snaps. This week is different.
“As a competitor, any time you get a chance to go out and play, you always look forward to it,” he said. “It just so happens to be Buffalo this week. Obviously, I love to compete, so wherever that is, if it’s this week, if it's another time, I look forward to those opportunities.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
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