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Brian Daboll Addressed Russell Wilson’s Status as Starting QB After Dreadful Debut

Andy Nesbitt

Russell Wilson was unable to lead the Giants' offense to a touchdown in Sunday's 21-6 loss to the Commanders.
Russell Wilson was unable to lead the Giants' offense to a touchdown in Sunday's 21-6 loss to the Commanders. / Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
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Russell Wilson was hoping for a bounce-back season with the Giants when he signed with the team over the offseason, but now, after an ugly performance in his debut on Sunday, the 36-year-old quarterback is already having people questioning if his starting job will soon be in jeopardy.

Wilson completed 17-of-36 passes for 168 yards in Sunday's 21-6 loss on the road to the Commanders. He was only able to lead the offense to a pair of field goals, and it sure seemed like his star wide receiver, Malik Nabers was frustrated by everything that went wrong for the unit.

After the game, Giants head coach Brian Daboll was asked a blunt question about Wilson's status moving forward. His answer wasn't the most convincing message in the world for his new quarterback.

"Is it safe to say that Russell is still your starter?," a reporter asked Daboll in his postgame scrum.

"We're just right here, after the game. I've got confidence in Russell," Daboll said. "We've got to do better around overall, players, coaches, around everybody. So we'll get focused and ready to go on Dallas."

When pressed about that answer not sounding like a good thing for Russell, Daboll said:

"We're talking about after every game. I've got confidence in Russ. So we're gonna go back, we'll evaluate the tape. This game isn't on Russell Wilson. It's not on Russell Wilson. I want to make that clear. I have confidence in Russ, we've got to do a better job all the way around."

That wasn't the most ringing endorsement for Russell, and with rookie Jaxson Dart serving as the backup, this talk about who should be the team's starting quarterback is only going to heat up. Especially if the Giants lose next week to the Cowboys in Dallas.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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