Still-recovering QB Jones will start upon return

Jordan Raanan, ESPN Staff WriterOct 25, 2023, 01:55 PM ET
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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — There is no quarterback controversy for the New York Giants. When Daniel Jones returns from the neck injury that has sidelined him the past two games, he will remain the starter.

Veteran Tyrod Taylor will return to his role as the backup.

“He’s our starter,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said Wednesday of Jones, who signed a four-year, $160 million deal this offseason. “I’ve said it, I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked, but I’ve said it a bunch.”

Taylor has played well in his two starts, producing two of the Giants’ three best offensive outputs this season and leading them to a 14-7 win over the Washington Commanders on Sunday.

The likelihood is that Taylor will get at least a third start Sunday against the New York Jets as Jones remains the “same as he was last week,” Daboll said.

Jones will practice Wednesday but will not take any team reps and has not been cleared for contact. That has been the case ever since he injured his neck when he was slammed to the ground in an Oct. 8 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

This isn’t the first neck injury for Jones, who missed the final six games of the 2021 season with a neck problem. But Jones and Daboll have been adamant that he will return this season. Jones insists he is making progress.

“I’m able to do everything I need to do from a running, throwing, lifting standpoint,” Jones said this week on the “Up & Adams” show. “It’s mostly a contact thing. Like I’ve said, proving that I can handle that.”

While Taylor has outplayed Jones in his two starts and has a QBR this season of 50.1 compared with Jones’ 39.0, this is more about the future of the franchise.

Jones, 26, played well last season, finishing sixth with a QBR of 62.9, in his first year under Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen. The Giants reached the playoffs and won a wild-card game. Jones was rewarded with a new contract that guaranteed him $84 million in the first two years of his deal. The idea was that, with better weapons, he would continue to blossom.

But the Giants (2-5) struggled to start the season. Jones was being sacked at an exorbitant rate — 28 in his five starts — and the offense stumbled. It didn’t help that he was playing behind an injury-ravaged offensive line and without star running back Saquon Barkley.

Taylor, 34, completed 18 of 29 passes for 279 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in Sunday’s win over Washington. He hasn’t committed a turnover in his two starts.

But the steady veteran understands his role.

“That’s up to Coach,” Taylor said Sunday. “Obviously, if [Jones] is healthy, he’s a captain on our team, captain of our team, a leader on the offense, and I am here to support in any way that I can.”