The Giants are hoping and expecting to get Daniel Jones back as their starting quarterback for Sunday’s game in Baltimore and look no further than this week’s practice as they assess his health after two injuries.
There is still a season beyond this and Jones has struggled in year 2 after a promising rookie season. Will the Giants be sold at Jones in 2021?
“Daniel Jones is our quarterback,” head coach Joe Judge said Wednesday.
Jones strained his right hamstring on Nov. 29 in Cincinnati and missed the next game, a win in Seattle with Colt McCoy as the starting replacement. Jones returned in Week 14, was clearly not comfortable and maintained a sprained left ankle in a loss to the Cardinals. Jones sat out last week’s 20-6 defeat for the Browns.
Jones was able to participate in the part of Wednesday’s practice that was open to the media, taking the first snap of the starting offense in early practice.
“We throw him through the exercise [Wednesday] and tomorrow and see where he is, ” the judge said. “In a perfect world, I would very much like an answer as soon as possible. I will not go further and put a time mark on this. We come out of Friday after training with some kind of answer. We have received good feedback from him and the coaches, but we will have to put him down and see how he moves around. ”
The next opponent, the Ravens, also has a 23-year-old quarterback. Lamar Jackson is in his third season about to win the NFL’s most valuable player award in 2019. He is rooted as a franchise quarterback.
When did the Ravens know this? Was there an “aha” moment that convinced the organization that they had their guy?
“I probably felt that after the first few games two years ago, the first year of 2018,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said.
Judge said it was not so dramatic with Jones.
“I do not know if there is an ‘aha’ moment,” the judge said. “I do not say that [Harbaugh] is wrong to have had his own ‘aha’ moment. For me, it’s a series of moments. Seeing Daniel work, seeing the respect he has in the locker room, seeing him improve throughout this season. He has shown a level of toughness and leadership and knowledge on the field that gives us the confidence to put him out there and build with Daniel. I will not point to a moment. I can talk about this whole season of this guy who has definitely earned my respect. I did it very hard for him in the beginning in many ways and he has not blinked. ”