Zone of silence
Daniel’s neck injury sends Giants into super-secret mode
One Joe Judge comment stood out above all the others Wednesday.
The Giants’ coach was asked if there is concern Daniel Jones’ neck strain could be a season-ending injury.
“At this moment, no,” Judge said. The coach’s hedging provided an adequate summary of where Jones’ injury stands: somewhere in the gray.
The third-year quarterback — who is considered week-to-week, according to sources — was limited in a quick walkthrough practice. He conducted his weekly press conference and said he’s “feeling good” and “preparing to play” Sunday against the Dolphins.
But a lot of that felt like gamesmanship.
Judge prefers to keep injury information in-house. Since Jones’ injury got out, Wednesday felt like the Giants trying to overcorrect and create uncertainty for the Dolphins (5-7).
The Giants even waited longer than usual for the media to leave after the brief viewing period at the start of practice. The offensive huddle stayed on the sideline waiting for reporters to depart so the team wouldn’t tip off which players took the field.
Jones always tries to play through injuries. His desire to play isn’t the issue, though. Backup Mike Glennon is still expected to start as the Giants (4-7) seek a second straight win.
“There’s a number of things the trainers and doctors want to see,” Jones said of his “sore” neck. “But my focus is to continue to improve and get better and put that (decision) in their hands come this weekend.”
Jones did say he doesn’t believe this is season-ending, although clearly there have been discussions the past couple days about just how bad it was.
“I don’t know,” Jones said. “I think there was obviously a series of tests and conversations with doctors, and I always understood it to be something I could recover from and get back out there.”
Judge said “we’re not gonna rule anything out right now” on Jones’ status for Sunday. However, the coach admitted that the timing of Tuesday’s signing of quarterback
Jake Fromm off the Bills’ practice squad was motivated by Jones’ injury.
“When you first get any kind of flag on any player … you immediately say, ‘OK, what kind of insurance do we need for the game right now?’ ” Judge said. “And then it was an opportunity for us to add a player we liked in college and the draft.”
Fromm was not available to the media after his first practice with the team.
Jones, despite dealing with his neck injury, surprisingly has not been evaluated for a concussion during or since Sunday’s win over the Eagles, per Judge and the team.
The coach said he did not know about Jones’ injury until “our postgame injury report on Monday.” Asked if Jones had said anything about the injury during Sunday’s game, Judge said: “Nothing to me.”
Jones said he felt OK during the game even after sustaining the injury on the second play from scrimmage. Then “after the game it was sore” and “I woke up (Monday) and it was sore.”
The quarterback said he doesn’t want to miss time. He never does.
“I feel that responsibility to be out there,” he said. “I never want to miss games. As a quarterback, you never want to miss any time. That’s my focus is to get back and be ready to play… My focus is to get back this week.”
The Giants have recent experience with rushing Jones back too quickly and seeing it backfire, though.
Last season, Jones played on a right hamstring strain in Week 14 against the Cardinals. He couldn’t move, got tuned up by the Cardinals’ pass rush, and sprained his left ankle. He then had to sit out the following week’s 20-6 loss to the Browns.
“I think every injury is completely independent of another one,” Judge said, when asked if the Giants had learned a lesson from last year. “The medical team’s got to do their job in terms of determining if somebody’s healthy enough to go on the field. And I’ll do my job of getting him prepared for football.”
Jones said there has been no discussion of any shot or painkiller being required to help him manage the injury. He said the Giants and Jones “have a pretty clear understanding of what it is” and now it’s “just about treating it.”
The quarterback stressed that he’s tried hard this season to protect himself better when running, though this is the second time this season he has gotten hurt by lowering his head forward.
“It’s something I’ve been focused on this season is to get down and avoid some of those hits,” he said. “I’ve just got to continue to do that. It can be tough at times, but it’s something you’ve got to be able to do.”
He’ll have to get better at it if he wants to use his athleticism to his advantage — that is, whenever he does get back in an actual game.