At the behest of their head coach, New York Giants’ players have spent the season being tight-lipped about injuries. Thus, it was surprising on Tuesday when quarterback Daniel Jones let slip that his hamstring injury will continue to limit him to playing mostly from the pocket this Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.
Joe Judge on Wednesday made it obvious he wished his quarterback had not been quite so open.
Judge said Jones was “probably a little more forthcoming than I would have been.”
“We’ll do whatever it takes to win the game,” Judge said. “I’m going to always put the players health into consideration into how we call the game … if the gloves come off and you expose someone to long-term injury that’s not always the most opportune thing.”
Jones suffered a hamstring injury Week 12 against the Cincinnati Bengals. He has missed two games since, dealing with both the hamstring and an ankle injury suffered Week 14 vs. the Arizona Cardinals.
Jones said Tuesday that “you can tell from the tape that I’m not able to do a lot of the things I’m used to doing,”
The quarterback added that he is likely to be confined to the pocket on Sunday.
“I’ve played from the pocket the past couple weeks and i expect to continue to do that until I’m healthy,” Jones said. “I expect the game plan and what I’m asked to do to be fairly similar to what it’s been these past few weeks.”
Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett also indicated Thursday that he anticipated Jones playing from the pocket this Sunday.
“There’s no question he’s not 100 percent in terms of his mobility. We recognize that, he recognizes that. But you certainly want him to be functional,” Garrett said. “He’s a very good pocket quarterback, and that’s probably where we’ll spend most of the day.”
The question remains — are the Giants conning the Cowboys, or will Jones really once again be a mostly stationary target.
