Jones still not cleared for contact Desperate Giants need young WRs to catch on
Pugh gets deal with Giants for rest of year
Daniel Jones was back on the field Wednesday, but that does not mean he will be able to start at quarterback for the Giants on Sunday when they face the Commanders at MetLife Stadium and look to end a four-game losing streak.
Jones, dealing with a neck injury, was cleared to throw and he was allowed to be a limited participant in practice, working in individual drills. He has not yet been cleared for contact, and until he is, he cannot get back out there in a game.
“I obviously want to be out there extremely badly,’’ Jones said Wednesday. “I want to be there for the team and on the field.’’
It looked as if Jones took part in most of the regular quarterback drills early in practice and seemed to move well and without discomfort.
“I would say he’s eager to come back,’’ head coach Brian Daboll said. “He wants to play, but obviously, just like any player, if you’re not ready to play based on the doctor’s evaluation, we won’t put him out there, but he’s getting better. That’s why we’re going to have him out here.’’
Jones did not play last Sunday in the Giants’ 14-9 loss to the Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y. Tyrod Taylor filled in and completed 24 of 36 passes for 200 yards, but for the fourth consecutive game, the Giants failed to score a touchdown on offense.
The clearance to throw is a sign of progress, but it could have little bearing on Jones’ status for this weekend. Jones missed the final six games of the 2021 season with a neck issue — a different type of injury than this one, he said — and during that hiatus he was able to throw in practice. There is nothing wrong with his arm, of course.
Jones said he is not yet symptomfree. Until he is, it is unlikely he will be cleared for contract.
“I feel good, the pain has definitely subsided a good bit,’’ he said.
On the NBC broadcast of the Giants-Bills game, it was reported that Jones was experiencing pain in the left side of his neck and had symptoms affecting his left shoulder.
“I feel it a little bit, just working through it,’’ Jones said. “It’s just an effect from the neck injury. I really don’t feel much pain at all.’’
Jones said the concern is the pain in the neck coming back after he is cleared for contact and gets hit.
Watching from the sideline, Jones said he thought Taylor “played really well’’ and that the game “didn’t go our way there at the end, which was tough for everybody.’’
The Giants are 1-5 and have not scored a touchdown on offense in four consecutive games. The growing pains with a rookie wide receiver and the necessary caution with a second-year wide receiver coming off a torn ACL now have been assigned to the past.
There is a desperation for more yards and especially more points, no matter if it is Tyrod Taylor (highly likely) or Daniel Jones (highly unlikely) at quarterback. That means Jalin Hyatt and Wan’Dale Robinson are going to be seen more frequently on the field. That trend started this past week in the 14-9 loss to the Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y., and will continue Sunday, when the Giants return home to face the Commanders at MetLife Stadium.
“I think every game for me is helping me,’’ Hyatt said Wednesday after practice. “The game speed is getting slower for me. I’m understanding what I have to do, the connection with Tyrod or DJ is getting better.’’
Anything better has to help for a team with an NFL-low 71 points. Hyatt played 56 out of the 77 snaps on offense against the Bills, easily a season high. He averaged fewer than 27 snaps a game over the first five weeks of the season.
“I mean, you’re a rookie,’’ head coach Brian Daboll said. “It’s a hard position to play, receiver. I coached it for six years. There weren’t many rookie receivers that I’ve had that have played right away. Deion Branch comes to mind as one of them.
“But it’s a learning experience when you’re a young receiver. There’s a lot of different things that happen that maybe didn’t happen to him in college relative to whether it’s press coverage, certain adjustments, things like that, and that happens for most. He’s a young guy that’s still learning, and he’ll get some opportunities.’’
Robinson was on the field for a season-high 46 snaps against the Bills. Despite missing the first two games, he is second on the team with 22 receptions. He is averaging only 6.4 yards per catch, though, often sliding to the turf as he brings the ball in.
Are his routes too predictable, tipping the defense off to the short stuff and wide receiver screens he is asked to run?
“Obviously when I go in the game I hear, ‘This might be going this way’ and things like that,’’ Robinson told The Post. “Got to do a better job of executing and breaking tackles and things like that.’’
It is even more halting with Parris Campbell. He is averag
ing a paltry 5.3 yards on 16 receptions. Campbell averaged 10.1 yards on 97 receptions the past four seasons with the Colts.
“To be honest I don’t have a straight answer for you,’’ Campbell told The Post. “It’s a goal, not only for myself but for a lot of guys in the room that can do something with the ball after the catch. I just think it comes down to consistency. If we have a more consistent drive, drive in and drive out the yards after catch will come. When you have consistency in drives that’s where you’re wearing down the defense.’’
Darren Waller’s 10.1 yardsper-catch average is down nearly 2 yards per catch from his heyday with the Raiders.
Darius Slayton, always a longball threat, is at 13.9 yards per catch, but through six games does not have enough receptions (17). Hyatt, thanks to his big-play second half in Arizona (two catches for 89 yards), is averaging 17.1 yards on his seven receptions.
Otherwise, the yards after the catch are trickling in.
“Oh, it’s a combination of everything,’’ Daboll said. “It’s getting up field, making a guy miss, ball placement, everything plays into it. If you’re beating man coverage, escaping man. If you’re in zone, splitting defenders. That’s about what it is.
“You always want to stay in favorable situations, so a 5-yard pass, you’d like to turn into an 8-yard gain, a 9-yard gain. First down, make it second-and-1. Second-and-5, make it first down. Definitely important.’’
Hyatt does not need to get the ball in bulk to be a yardage producer and he said he is better adjusted to a new role assigned to him with the Giants.
“The biggest thing for me, I played slot for three years at Tennessee, and getting up here and playing an outside role is a little different,’’ Hyatt said. “It was getting used to playing outside, having a little more time, doing different releases, getting off the press coverage and you’re gonna see the elite of the elite out there on the perimeter.’’
Hyatt, 22, will get more chances to show his stuff. So will Robinson, also 22. The youth movement is on.
The Giants were going to make sure they secured the services of Justin Pugh and not leave him on the practice squad, where he would have been available for another team to pilfer.
Not that Pugh had any intention of going anywhere.
“Teams can reach out but there was never a doubt in my mind,’’ the offensive lineman said. “I came here for a reason.’’
Pugh was signed to the active roster Wednesday for the reminder of the season.
“I was super excited,’’ said Pugh, the Giants’ 2013 first-round draft pick. “It got into the late hours and we got it done.’’
This transaction makes sense, considering it could very well be the 33-yearold Pugh as the Giants’ starting left tackle on Sunday for their game against the Commanders.
Pugh, remarkably, played all 77 snaps in the 14-9 loss to the Bills last week. He started at left guard — his preferred and most comfortable position — but moved outside to left tackle in the first quarter after Josh Ezeudu lasted just nine snaps before suffering a toe injury that could end his season. Pugh had some rough moments early, allowing a sack and getting flagged for two false-start penalties, as he adjusted to the cadence in his first game in a calendar year, since going down with a torn ACL last season with the Cardinals. Pugh settled in and played better in the second half at a position he had not played since 2017.
“I thought he did some good things,’’ head coach Brian Daboll said. “Again, he hasn’t played tackle in a while. We’ll give him obviously some reps out there and make sure we get him ready to go.’’
Andrew Thomas (hamstring) did not practice, but there was a sign of progress, as he started doing increased work with trainers. He could possibly return for the Week 8 game versus the Jets. Without him, Pugh is likely the next-best option at left tackle, unless the Giants want to start Tyre Phillips, who was signed Tuesday off the Eagles’ practice squad. Phillips started five games for the Giants last season — at right tackle.
Pugh credited practicesquad offensive lineman Jalen Mayfield for fine-tuning the “straight off the couch’’ line Pugh gave in the televised pregame introductions when players usually announce their college.
“I was going to use ‘fresh off the couch’ and he was like ‘straight off the couch’ and I said ‘that’s it!’ ’’Pugh said.
To make room on the roster for Pugh, tight end Lawrence Cager was waived.
➤ C John Michael Schmitz (shoulder), WR Wan’Dale Robinson (knee), RT Evan Neal (ankle) and T Matt Peart (shoulder) did not practice. That was precautionary with Robinson. Daboll said Neal’s ankle swelled up after the game at Buffalo.
➤ Saquon Barkley played 60 snaps in his return after he had missed three games with a high ankle sprain. He was limited in practice because the focus is on having him ready for game days.
“I’d say the ankle wasn’t any worse off, just natural bumps and bruises from not having played for a while,’’ Daboll said. “So, I’d say he’s in a good spot.’’
TE Darren Waller planned to attend Game 4 of the WNBA Finals on Wednesday night at Barclays Center, hoping to see his wife, Kelsey Plum, win the title with the Las Vegas Aces in their game against the Liberty.
“It’s very exciting,’’ Waller said. “I want to see her accomplish everything she sets out to accomplish. It’s cool to be a fan of her, be her husband and just support her.’’