Daniel done for season
Giants expect full recovery from neck injury
The Giants officially shut down quarterback Daniel Jones (neck strain) for the rest of the season on Monday, placing him and wide receiver Sterling Shepard (torn Achilles) on injured reserve.
Most importantly, senior VP of medical services and head athletic trainer Ronnie Barnes said the Giants eventually “expect a full recovery.”
“Over the course of the past few weeks, Daniel has been examined by Dr. Frank Cammisa of Hospital for Special Surgery and Dr. Robert Watkins of the Marina Spine Center at Marina Del Rey Hospital,” Barnes said in a statement. “Our medical team has continued to consult with Dr. Cammisa and Dr. Watkins regarding Daniel’s condition and symptoms, and at this point, Daniel has not been cleared for contact. We felt the prudent decision was to place Daniel on injured reserve for the remainder of the season. With continued rest and treatment, we expect a full recovery.”
Jones hurt his neck on a designed run in a Nov. 28 victory over the Eagles, when he lowered his head and went helmet-to-helmet with Philly safety Rodney McLeod. The Giants held out hope he could return. He continued practicing, as he wasn’t physically impaired by the mystery injury, which coach Joe Judge termed a “sprained neck” on Monday. But the multiple spine specialists he saw weren’t comfortable clearing him for contact.
Judge insisted Monday that Jones would return to full health.“I’ve been adamant in saying that with all the information we’ve been given from the doctors involved and the medical team that there is no, at this moment, concern for a long-term injury,” he said. “This is more of a precautionary measure to make sure it’s something that isn’t aggravated or agitated before it’s healed and it doesn’t turn into something as chronic or long-term.”
He also ruled out surgery, saying the plan for Jones was just to rest, rehab and avoid contact.
Jones will have missed the final six games of his third NFL season. He finishes the year with 2,428 passing yards, 10 TD passes, seven interceptions and a 64.3 completion percentage.
He has had three play-callers in three seasons: Pat Shurmur, Jason Garrett and Freddie Kitchens. The Giants (4-10) have been offensively inept, with Mike Glennon 0-3 as the starter in Jones’ absence.
With an injury like this, obviously the long term is a concern. Judge said that “this would not be an issue going forward if we give this time now to heal fully.”
The coach said the possibility of a setback for Jones was the topic with the Giants’ medical team on Monday. “We had that conversation at length this morning,” Judge said. “That’s a question I specifically asked repeatedly to make sure and from what I was told, that is the case, that this would not be an issue going forward.”
Jake Fromm replaced Glennon in Sunday’s fourth quarter and looked competent on one drive in his NFL debut. So Fromm is expected to start on Sunday at Philadelphia.
Judge wouldn’t commit to Fromm as the starter on Monday, just saying he “did enough to be in consideration” for a start in Philly.
“Obviously, there’s a big difference between starting an entire NFL game and coming in at the end of the game when the team is playing more of a two-minute prevent mode,” Judge said. “That’s not a knock on Jake, it’s just the reality and the truth.”