New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones will not return to play for the remainder of the 2021 season due to a neck injury that has yet to be resolved, according to multiple reports Monday.
Jones had missed the Giants’ last three games after picking up the injury — which included structural damage — during a Week 12 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Due to the trickiness and delicacy of neck injuries, Jones’ status for the remainder of the 2021 campaign was always up in the air, however, the Giants initially forecasted that he would be week-to-week rather than ending his season.
It’s a difficult ending to the third-year passer’s season, which was forecasted to be a vital one in proving that he could be the Giants’ franchise quarterback of the future and a legitimate successor to Eli Manning.
Instead, the 24-year-old was under center of one of the worst offenses in the entire NFL that ultimately led to the firing of offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.
While Jones completed a career-best 64.3% of his passes for 2,428 yards in 12 games, he threw just 10 touchdowns compared to seven interceptions while the Giants averaged just 16.8 points per game.
In 38 career games, Jones has only passed for 45 touchdowns with 29 interceptions — which hasn’t done enough to inspire the confidence needed to solidify his place as the franchise quarterback in the court of public opinion.
Granted, it has been enough for general manager Dave Gettleman, who inexplicably drafted Jones sixth overall in 2019 when he very well could have been a late first-round, early second-round selection.
Second-year head coach Joe Judge, who is now 10-20 in his Giants career, gave Jones a vote of confidence.
“I feel good about Daniel already. I want him to keep growing and developing his craft,” Judge said last week. “Obviously, he’s a great asset to our team. You want to have him available to play with the team. That’s obviously something that we’re not keeping secret. There’s not really much more to say past that. Daniel’s done a good job growing for us. We’re going to keep on pushing forward with him.”
But Gettleman will be out as GM at the end of another disappointing season with the possibility of Judge following not far behind depending on how the new leadership views the head coach.
Jones very well could be, too, if the new GM in 2022 believes that there are more promising avenues to take when addressing the quarterback position.
