Daniel Jones Offers a Candid Admission About His Injury-Related Limitations
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones has been on an endless loop, saying that he’s feeling better from the hamstring and ankle injuries that caused him to miss two games this season.
But despite being listed as a full participant on the Giants Wednesday injury report—he was listed as just having the hamstring strain and not the sprained ankle he suffered in the loss to Arizona—Jones made a stunning admission about where he is in his recovery and how it might affect what he’s able to do against in a must-win game this weekend against the Cowboys.
“I'll continue to work with the trainers and trust that program,” he said Wednesday. “I've played from the pocket the past couple of weeks. and I expect to continue to do that until I'm healthy. So we’ll see what exactly (the game plan looks like), but I expect that the game plan and what I'm asked to do to be fairly similar to what it's been these past few weeks.”
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Jones, who first missed the game against Seattle when he initially had the right hamstring strain to deal with, returned the following week against the Cardinals after convincing head coach Joe Judge that he had enough mobility to defend himself.
But in that game, Jones became a sitting duck behind an offensive line whose pass protection broke down and allowed six sacks on Jones and nearly a dozen hits, including the one toward the end of the first half in which Jones suffered the sprained left ankle.
Jones missed the following week’s game against the Browns, but he returned last week against Baltimore. But again, he had no designed runs and was only seen moving around the pocket if necessary, a clear indicator that he still wasn’t anywhere close to being full strength.
Since Jones’s injury, the Giants running game, which had recorded seven 100+ yard performances in a row, the last of which came against the Seahawks in a game that Jones was inactive, has struggled to run the football. But Jones doesn’t believe that there is any correlation between his injuries and the running game’s decline in production.
“I'm not sure (his injuries) limit us a whole lot, but we gotta be good with what we can do,” Jones said.
Jones, who admitted that it was hard at first to curtail his instincts to run, said he’s gotten more used to it and has continued to insist that he feels healthier by the day.
“I think you can tell from the tape that I’m not… I can’t do a lot of the same things I’m used to doing," he said. "I’ll continue to work and work to improve. But for the time being, I’ll probably have to adjust the way I play. I’ve been doing that the last few weeks."
If Jones continues to make progress, there is certainly a chance, however small it might be, that a designed run or two could find its way into the Giants' game plan as the week progresses.
“I certainly haven't been as involved in the run game and certain areas you know, getting out of the pocket and running, scrambling, you know, things like that, but I feel good,” he repeated. “I feel a lot better and I'll continue to work with the trainers to improve.”
As for the running game, Jones reminded people that it’s not all about what he can and can’t do.
“We have a lot of ways to run the ball. We have really good runners and guys we can get into space and make plays. So I think we'll continue to do that and get the ball to those guys.”
