Joe Judge Addresses Daniel Jones’ Availability Against Seahawks

Getty Trainers tend to Daniel Jones #8 of the New York Giants after he is injured during the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The New York Giants rallied off their third consecutive victory this past Sunday and fourth over their last seven games, taking claim of first place in the NFC East with just five more games to go. Unfortunately, the mood in New York was severely dampened as quarterback Daniel Jones sustained a hamstring injury that prevented him from finishing the game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

On Monday, the quarterback underwent testing to find out the extent of his injury. Thankfully, the initial returns appear to be promising.

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Jones Avoids Major Injury, Status For Wk. 13 Up in the Air

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the quarterback avoided major injury and “has an outside chance at playing Sunday” in a crucial bout with the Seattle Seahawks.

ESPN’s Jordan Raanan showed a bit less optimism regarding Jones’ availability moving forward, reporting that the second-year pro’s hamstring strain will “likely force him to miss some time.” With that said, both reports point towards this coming week of practice as being critical in determining a timeline for Jones’ return. Per Rapoport, the Giants “will have plans with Jones & without him” entering Week 13 against Seattle.

This notion was shared by head coach Joe Judge, who spoke to the media on Monday about his injured quarterback.

“We will need to wait and see how he responds at practice,” Judge said of Jones. “Can he hurt it worse by playing? Can he defend himself on the field? Until we can answer those questions we won’t have any answers as to what do to for this week’s game.”

If Jones’ availability simply comes down to pain management, history would point towards the quarterback being under center come Sunday.

“The saving grace with Jones may be — and every coach seems to say it about him — that he’s really tough,” Raanan tweeted about the Giants quarterback. “At Duke he had surgery on a broken clavicle, was back at practice 9 days later and played 3 weeks after the injury. Kind of guy who may push to play through a hamstring injury.”

Jones is currently in the midst of his most efficient three-game stretch as a pro. Since Week 9, the former No. 6 overall pick has completed 67.3% of his passes, scoring two total touchdowns, while not logging a single turnover. For his stellar play this past Sunday, Jones earned an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 78.6, the highest mark by a Giants offensive player on the day.

Next Man Up: Colt McCoy

If Jones can’t give it a go against the Seahawks, veteran Colt McCoy will be called upon to fill the void under center. The 11-year-pro went 6-of-10 for 31 yards in spot duty against the Bengals.

McCoy has started 28 games over his NFL career, including 21 over his first two pro seasons when he served as the primary signal-caller for the Cleveland Browns. In total, McCoy has amassed 6,111 passing yards, 31 total touchdowns and 27 interceptions over his 41 career game appearances.

One of the most prolific quarterbacks in college football history, McCoy currently sits second on the NCAA’s all-time single-season leader list in pass completion percentage (76.7). Ohio State standout and projected top-10 pick Justin Fields has edged out McCoy for the time being, completing 79.6% of his passes thus far this season.

The Giants have been one of the more underwhelming passing offenses in football this season, averaging a smidge over 200 ypg, the fifth-lowest in the NFL. However, no matter who is under center for Big Blue come this Sunday, the offense will likely have its fair share of opportunities to move the ball through the air. Prior to Monday night’s game against the Eagles, Seattle had allowed an average of 343.7 passing ypg, 52.5 ypg more than the next closest team.