Brian Daboll Explains Why He’s Sticking with Russell Wilson as NY Giants’ Starting QB

For a little under 24 hours, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll left the door ajar for a change at quarterback when he declined following the Giants’ 21-6 loss to Washington to endorse Russell Wilson as the starter.

Having slept on it and looked at the film, Daboll told reporters on Monday that he’s sticking with the 14-year veteran, whose 200th career start was a disaster.

“It was a tough game–didn't play particularly well, I would say collectively,” Daboll said when asked why he didn’t immediately come out and name Wilson the starter if that was the intention.

“In terms of making any of those decisions, really at any position or schematic changes, I'd like to do it with a clear head and watch the tape.

“And like I said yesterday, that game doesn't fall on Russell Wilson–you had to do a better job collectively coaching, playing, but, but Russell will be the starter.”

Wilson finished 17 of 37 for 168 yards and didn’t throw a touchdown or an interception. He never really appeared to be comfortable behind a leaky offensive line that gave up two sacks and had him under pressure on 37.8% of his dropbacks.

But worth noting is Wilson’s hand in the problem, starting with his running himself into both sacks, though to be fair, he didn’t move the pocket all that much, whether that was his call or the coaches’ decision.

Still, Daboll insisted that the offense’s struggles were a collective effort rather than just on one person.

“We just, we never got into a rhythm in the early part of the downs,” Daboll said. “The line of scrimmage–there was a play here or a play there, or a block here, a read there that we just kept getting behind the sticks and could never get into a good enough rhythm.”

Daboll, who also said that he doesn’t anticipate making any changes to the beleaguered offensive line, whose interior in particular struggled, said that Wilson’s game wasn’t as bad as it might have first appeared.

“I'd say he made good decisions,” Daboll said of Wilson. “Again, we've missed on the one-on-one matchups–sometimes it's a throw, sometimes it's a contested catch.

"It's not just Russ; it's the entire offense, which starts with me, the coaches, and the players. We gotta do a better job collectively, so that's what we'll do.”

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