They need them back.
The Giants need Saquon Barkley and Andrew Thomas back on the field, as soon as possible. Yesterday, if possible. Today, if possible. In time for Sunday’s game with the Bills in Buffalo, if possible.
The Giants need Daniel Jones, their starting quarterback, on the field, too. He gives them the best chance to win, though given the way this team is operating, especially along the offensive line, it’s doubtful any one player can turn around the season.
Dealing with injuries is a way of life for the Giants and the entire NFL.
Acknowledging this is accepted, using it as a crutch or an excuse is verboten.
Players want to get back as quickly as possible, but the urgency to do so is not the same for each person. There are physical risks, contractual considerations and realistic expectations to juggle and evaluate.
Take the Giants, for example.
There is no doubt Thomas, Jones and Barkley are champing at the bit to return — Thomas to his spot at left tackle after missing the past four games, Jones to remain under center after suffering a neck issue that forced him out of the 31-16 loss to the Dolphins and Barkley to run and catch for the first time since Week 2.
Thomas and Jones, however, are in Year 1 of multi-season contract extensions.
Barkley, as detailed time and again, is playing on a one-year deal.
The Giants are 1-4, their season sinking fast.
Jones, Thomas and Barkley were on the field together in the season-opening 40-0 loss to the Cowboys and that’s it. Thomas strained a hamstring in that game on a botched special teams play, chasing after the ball-carrier after a blocked field goal. A week later, Barkley got hurt on a play that meant almost nothing. As the Giants were running down the clock and setting up Graham Gano for a mid-range field goal in Arizona, Barkley suffered a high ankle sprain on a meaningless 2-yard gain when was nailed after his teammates failed to block the edges, allowing a linebacker to slam into Barkley. Gano made the kick, Barkley has not played since and the Giants haven’t won since.
This past Sunday in Miami Gardens, it appeared Jones could be in serious trouble when he was taken out after a sack by Dolphins linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel. Jones missed the final six games of the 2021 season due to a neck injury and he certainly did not look or sound encouraged immediately after the game while talking about this new neck issue.
As it turns out, it is a different issue with the neck than two years ago, Jones revealed Tuesday on FanDuel TV, and there is a chance Jones will be able to play this weekend.
The question: Should he?
It is a reality that players with secure contracts sometimes deal with injuries differently than those who know the only way they can get paid is to return to the field.
Prior to this season, Thomas signed a five-year, $117.5 million extension that puts him under contract with the Giants through the 2029 season. Of course, he wants to get back and be part of the solution for an offensive line that is in shambles. Thomas is one of the league’s top left tackles, and the Giants have crumbled up front without him. Still, he can afford to play the long game here.
Thomas is not expected to be ready to return for Sunday night’s game in Buffalo. He is under contract for so long that rushing him back makes no sense, for him or the team, not when the franchise needs him or the long haul.
Jones is five games into his four-year, $160 million deal, and thus far it has gone exceedingly badly for him and the team that chose to invest in him. Jones is a team-first guy, and unless advised by the medical staff that his neck cannot handle the contact that is sure to find him — he has been sacked 28 times this season — he will suit up in Buffalo.
Why push to get Jones back and not Thomas? The starting quarterback is always a different case, and though the Giants will not rush Jones back, a team almost always functions at a higher level with the No. 1 guy in there.
Barkley is in an entirely different situation. He must have been quite interested in seeing running back Jonathan Taylor last week finally agree to terms with the Colts on a three-year deal worth $42 million.
The key detail with Taylor is that $26.5 million is guaranteed.
The Giants never got that high in their negotiations with Barkley, but they did offer a three-year deal that included $23 million in guaranteed money. Barkley turned it down and ultimately accepted a one-year contract worth $11 million.
He will not see a penny of the $900,000 in incentives built into the deal, though, because he will almost assuredly not hit the specific statistical benchmarks needed to trigger them and the Giants will almost assuredly not make the playoffs.
The longer Barkley is out — there is a chance he returns this week — the worse his stats will look when it is time to negotiate a new deal, with the Giants or elsewhere. The sooner he returns, however, the higher the likelihood he is not in top form and his performance could suffer.
We have seen that before with Barkley. And with a team doing so poorly, a player can think, “What’s the rush?’’ and save wear and tear on his body.
Again, this isn’t to suggest these players are thinking of anything other than getting back ASAP.
Not every injury situation is the same, though, and not every player deals with the situation the same way.
Want to catch a game? The Giants schedule with links to buy tickets can be found here.
Rip city
Why such animosity for Daniel Jones?
Is it not enough that other teams this season have regularly beat up on Jones and the Giants? Do they also have to disrespect him after defeating him?
After the 49ers easily dispatched of the Giants in Week 3, several players anonymously ripped the Giants to the San Francisco Chronicle for giving Jones a four-year contract worth $160 million. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw went a step further, going on the record to say, “A lot of people who make all that money don’t even deserve it. I think they took a chance. I mean, he’s not bad. And if you ain’t got nothing better.”
It is rare for players to speak negatively about the money other players make.
Jones always says he does not hear the outside noise, but it’s currently registering at ear-splitting levels.
A week ago Monday night, Seahawks rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance against the Giants, highlighted by a 97-yard interception return for a touchdown that put the game away at 21-3 late in the third quarter.
Afterward, Witherspoon sounded a familiar refrain after successful thievery on an opposing quarterback.
“We knew he liked to stare down his first target,” Witherspoon told NFL Network after that game.
Then the 49ers were at it again, with defensive lineman Arik Armstead going on X (formerly Twitter) to bemoan Jones not throwing the ball up for grabs against his team the way he did against the Seahawks: “Daniel Jones I am so disappointed in you… why would you throw the ball so quick vs us and then let these people have a career day ? ….. why weren’t we deserving.’’
Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton is perhaps Jones’ staunchest advocate in the locker room. They came in together as 2019 NFL Draft classmates, Jones in the first round and Slayton in the fifth round. Slayton has seen and heard the Jones bashing from the outside.
“It’s definitely odd,’’ Slayton recently told Sports+. “Media is whatever, you expect that, but from players it’s a little bit odd. Ironically, it’s never, ever players that are like All-Pro, world-beater players themselves; it’s typically not those type guys that have things to say. We played on prime time a lot, so people have seen us a lot. We played bad on prime time a lot, so it’s easy to pile on the negative. We’re not worried about that.’’
A few tidbits from Miami
• At least safety Jason Pinnock did something to remember against the Dolphins as he notched his first NFL interception. He plucked the ball out of the air off a deflection from linebacker Bobby Okereke and returned the turnover 102 yards for a touchdown. That tied the longest interception return in franchise history, matching the 102-yarder by Erich Barnes way back in 1961.
• This one is not quite as historic, but it is fairly damning. The Dolphins had a 100-yard rusher (De’Von Achane, 151 yards), a 100-yard receiver (Tyreek Hill, 181 yards) and a 300-yard passer (Tua Tagovailoa).
The last time an opponent achieved that trifecta against the Giants was four years ago, on Oct. 16, 2019. Minnesota’s Dalvin Cook had 132 rushing yards, Adam Thielen had 130 receiving yards and Kirk Cousins threw for 306 yards. Not surprisingly, the Vikings beat the Giants, 28-10.
While we’re at it, Achane’s 76-yard run in the second quarter on Sunday was the longest against the Giants in nearly 12 years, since Fred Jackson of the Bills scored on an 80-yard run in a 27-24 Giants victory during the 2011 season.
Asked and answered
Here are two questions that have come up recently that we will attempt to answer as accurately as possible:
Why so many prime time games for the Giants?
It does seem excessive right now, doesn’t it? The Giants are preparing for their fourth game under the lights in the first six weeks when they face the Bills Sunday night in Buffalo. There is one more scheduled night game, Dec. 11 vs. the Packers, a “Monday Night Football’’ showcase event. That game should be in consideration to get flexed out of that spot, given the way the season has gone for the two teams.
As for why, well, there was plenty of optimism for the Giants after their 2022 success, and that is why the league gave them five prime time games. It was too much too soon, clearly.
With how bad the offensive line is, why wasn’t Justin Pugh activated?
Easy answer: He wasn’t ready. Pugh is coming off ACL surgery and was not with a team the entire spring and summer. The Giants signed their onetime 2013 first-round pick to the practice squad as a way of getting him in the building and starting his acclimation to the team and reacquainting him to the physical demands of playing guard in the NFL. This is not an overnight process. He has been with the team for only a week. Can he be ready to go this weekend? That seems premature. Plus, where does he fit in? Pugh left the Giants and was a solid player for the Cardinals. He will get his shot at some point.
