Immobile Daniel Jones a shell of his pre-injury self in Giants' loss to Cardinals
Linebacker Markus Golden #44 of the Arizona Cardinals sacks quarterback Daniel Jones #8 of the New York Giants and forces a fumble in the first quarter of the game at MetLife Stadium on December 13, 2020 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Cardinals recovered the fumble. Credit: Getty Images/Mike Stobe
There were plenty of things in Sunday’s ugly 26-7 loss to the Cardinals at MetLife Stadium that the Giants wish they could go back and change. Fumbles and penalties, misreads and miscalls, all of them added up to one of their worst defeats of the season. Certainly it was among the least timely for a team that started the day in first place in the NFC East and now finds itself in a four-team race with three games left.
The thing that really hampered the Giants, though, was the one thing Joe Judge insisted he would not want a mulligan on.
Daniel Jones made his return at quarterback after missing a week with a hamstring injury. He clearly was not at 100% as he and the entire squad hobbled through the afternoon. After watching his team’s winning streak end at four games, though, Judge stood by his decision to play Jones.
"No, I have no regrets on playing him," he said. "We made a calculated decision based on what we thought he could do as a player."
Jones, who noted the injury "wore on" him throughout the game, said he agreed with the call.
"I don’t regret it," he said. "I felt good enough to play. I felt like I could do everything I needed to do and I did throughout the game. I have no regrets about that."
That perspective might change if anything from this game lingers into the coming week’s preparations for the Browns on Sunday night.
Jones was replaced by backup Colt McCoy for the final 2:34 of the game after his condition worsened considerably. At one point after a fourth-quarter sack, he seemed to be favoring his left leg; it was the right hamstring that he injured two weeks ago.
He did not speak with reporters until about an hour after the game ended, having spent that time in the training room.
Jones said he didn’t think he jeopardized his ability to play in the next game, but he handled any questions about his health with more agility and elusiveness than he did against the Arizona pass rushers who hounded him.
"I’m dealing with the hammy and general bumps and bruises from playing the game," he said. "Gotta make sure I stay on top of it and recover this week."
Jones completed 11 of 21 passes for 127 yards, with 39 of those yards coming on one deep throw to Golden Tate that got the ball to the 1-yard line and set up the Giants’ only touchdown. Jones was sacked six times, many of them on plays in which he would normally have been able to run out of the pocket to extend the play and even pick up positive yardage.
"We knew there were going to be some situations where he wasn’t going to be able to just pull it down and run as he had in the past," Judge said. "We knew that was going to lead to him throwing the ball away and possibly taking sacks at certain points. That was something we knew going into the game."
Jones, who was the Giants’ leading rusher for the season when he left the field two weeks ago, did not attempt a rush in this game.
"Obviously, you take away part of the offense in any regard, it will affect how everything else complements itself there," Judge said.
With their quarterback limited by the lower-body ailments, the offense slowed to a grind, managing only 159 net yards, their lowest total since 2013.
Things were so bad that Judge said the Giants at one point considered pulling Jones for McCoy . . . and it had nothing to do with the hamstring.
"We made the decision, thought it was best to stick with what we were doing and try to make some things work and try to make some subtle adjustments," Judge said. "As long as his health stayed up, we were committed to putting him in the game."
Seventy-five of the Giants’ yards came on their first drive of the second half, which was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Dion Lewis after the completion to Tate and made the score 20-7 midway through the third quarter.
The Giants at that point seemed capable of clawing back into the game, but their next two possessions resulted in three-and-outs.
Jones’ welcome-back drive to open the game was punctuated by a sack by former teammate Markus Golden, who got into the backfield unblocked, squashed Jones for a sack and forced fumble, scooped it up and returned in 30 yards to the 9.
The Giants were able to keep the Cardinals from scoring with a fourth-and-goal stop at the 1, but the Giants’ inability to move the ball and grind out any long possessions kept the defense on the field, often in bad spots.
The worst of them was midway through the second quarter when Lewis fumbled a kickoff return that the Cardinals recovered at the Giants’ 21. That led to the game’s first touchdown and a 13-0 lead.
The Cardinals had six possessions that began at midfield or better in the game. The Giants crossed midfield on only one of their possessions.
Said Jones: "It’s extremely disappointing for all of us."
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
