Giants QB Tyrod Taylor remains ready with Daniel Jones' status still in doubt
Giants quarterback Tyrod Taylor (2) enters the stadium before facing the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023. Credit: Ed Murray
The Giants' update on Daniel Jones was, essentially, no update, according to coach Brian Daboll.
“Same as he was last week,” Daboll said Wednesday. “He’ll do stuff at practice, non-contact. Getting better, but the same.”
That means no team reps.
It’s going to be difficult — probably impossible — to envision Jones being back on the field until he takes team reps at practice.
Jones injured his neck Oct. 8 against the Dolphins. He hasn’t played since, although he has thrown at practice and participated on a limited basis.
“He’s feeling better,” Daboll said, “and then when the doctors tell me he’s cleared, then he is] cleared.”
Jones continues to be evaluated by the training staff and doctors.
Backup Tyrod Taylor, who last week became the first Black quarterback to win a game as a Giant, will continue to play until Jones is ready.
No one knows when that time will come.
For his part, Jones said he is “feeling better, continuing to improve. Just trying to do what the doctors and trainers tell me to do.”
He feels better now than he did after sustaining the injury.
“I can pretty much do everything,” he said. “I can throw, I can run, I can lift. It’s just a contact thing.”
And “the contact thing,” obviously, is a big deal.
Is he symptom free?
“I think there are still some symptoms there,” he said. “[But] I feel good.”
Jones expressed what must be the biggest hurdle he has yet to cross. He is not cleared for contact by the doctors and trainers who are responsible for his care. And there are still symptoms.
Unless and until that changes, it’s impossible to believe that Jones would be cleared to step onto a football field in a competitive environment.
It seems likely Taylor will get the start Sunday against the Jets at MetLife Stadium.
With Taylor as the starter, the Giants have lost to the Bills in Buffalo and defeated the Commanders at MetLife Stadium.
On Sunday against Washington, one of the Giants’ biggest plays came when Taylor found Saquon Barkley on a 5-yard pass that turned into a 32-yard touchdown catch.
“It’s very exciting,” Taylor said. “He makes guys miss. It’s very rare that one guy takes him down. That’s what I’ll say, like, how dynamic he is as a player. You get the ball to him, whether it’s something down the field or something short, it can be a big play because of the way he makes people miss. It creates explosive plays.”
With his opportunities to play over the past two games, Taylor has settled in.
“I feel comfortable in our offense,” Taylor said. “I feel comfortable with the playmakers that we have outside. It’s up to me, obviously, to get the ball to those guys, so just trying to spread it around as much as possible, and a lot of those guys create plays.”
As a 13-year veteran, Taylor knows not to take anything for granted when it comes to playing time.
He will be ready if called upon, as he always is.
“Obviously, the best experience is playing,” he said. “If the opportunity presents itself this week, yes, I would love to go out there and do something,” he said. “But if that’s not what the plan is, I’ll move forward.
“Like I said, I’m always going to be the same person day in and day out from a preparation standpoint, and as a leader, and just sharing what I can with the team, whether it’s me actually out there contributing, or me doing stuff from a leadership role.”
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.
