Getty ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky blasted New York Giants head coach Joe Judge for his "tough guy act."
There has been plenty of blame passed around for the New York Giants‘ dreadful 1-5 start to the 2021 regular season. But one individual who has caught a lot of flack as of late is second-year head coach Joe Judge.
After the Giants’ 38-11 blowout loss at home to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, October 17, ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky ripped into Judge on the Network’s morning show: Get Up!
“Players in the locker room don’t like Timmy tough nut coaches when you are losing football games,” said Orlovsky. “Timmy tough nuts from Joe Judge, and you are losing football games and everybody on your team is hurt, you are down 38-3 at the end of the game.”
.@danorlovsky7 absolutely RIPS Joe Judge for the job he’s doing with the Giants :flushed:
“It’s STUPID! It’s stupid!”
Orlovsky also found fault with Judge’s decision to keep quarterback Daniel Jones in the game, despite his team trailing by 25 points late in the fourth quarter.
“Your quarterback is still in with two minutes left in the end of the game and he is taking shots,” said Orlovsky. “Everybody on your team is hurt, this is just a disappointment by Judge.”
Former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan, another panelist on the show, weighed in on the team’s usage of Jones, who was coming off a concussion suffered the week before.
“That’s the stupid. Oh, wait, no. You know what? There’s one other stupider thing than that,” said Ryan. “How about running a quarterback sneak on third-and-1. (Jones) was concussed last week. Seven days (later) and you are running a quarterback sneak with him.
“Your guy just got hit in the head. What a surprise, It’s short yardage. He’s going to get hit in the head, quit it. Look at him, there’s Mr. tough guy (referring to a photo of Judge on the screen), you run the quarterback sneak (yourself).”
Ironically, Ryan is the same coach who opted to keep Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez in a preseason game against the Giants in 2013, despite putting in his second-team offensive line.
As a result, Sanchez suffered a season-ending shoulder injury and spent the rest of his career as a journeyman.
Regardless, the Giants took a massive risk, not only playing Jones one week after suffering a concussion, but allowing him to run several quarterback sneaks in short yardage situations as well.
Judge on the Hot Seat?
While Judge was celebrated for building a foundation in year-one, it is all beginning to unravel this season.
The Giants are 7-15 under Judge, and his seat is already starting to get warmer due to their poor play this year.
“At some point, you have to start evaluating his ability to take care of a team,” said former NFL safety and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark. “Being a head coach is not just about delegating, It’s not just about making sure your team plays a certain way.
“It’s about looking in the eye’s of your football players and them feeling like coach has my back. Coach understands how to take care of us and we are in this together. And if you are a New York Giant right now, there’s no way you can feel that way about Joe Judge. It seems more about this image he wants to portray, rather than connecting with the people in his locker room.”
Although it seemed like the Giants were in it together last season when they finished 5-3 after an abysmal 1-7 start, the previous progress they made has evaporated due to their putrid record.
Judge was hired as a no-nonsense type, who descended from the Bill Belichick coaching-tree in New England. But at this point, his style is becoming a tired act since the team isn’t seeing enough results on the field.
For that, the Giants may very well be searching for their fourth head coach since 2016 in the near future.
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Injury Report
On Thursday, October 21, the Giants released their latest injury report and there were a few surprises on it.
Tight end Evan Engram did not practice due to a calf injury. And ironically, Engram missed the first two games of the regular season with a calf injury as well.
Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton and John Ross were limited as they continue to nurse hamstring injuries. Although Shepard played against the Rams and was not on the injury report on Tuesday, he landed back there this afternoon.
The Giants will likely be without star running back Saquon Barkley (ankle sprain) and No. 1 wide receiver Kenny Golladay (knee) for the second straight week. Rookie phenom Kadarius Toney is also expected to miss time with an ankle injury.
Unfortunately for quarterback Daniel Jones, he will have to try and work with another depleted unit this week. Not to mention, he will also be without his starting left tackle Andrew Thomas for the next three games after he was placed on injured reserve.