Apparently, the Giants’ coyness about the severity of quarterback injuries isn’t specific to Daniel Jones.
Mike Glennon suffered a concussion during Big Blue’s 20-9 loss to Miami, although it wasn’t referenced during the game broadcast at all, nor was it mentioned by head coach Joe Judge in his post-game press conference – instead, it was broken by the team in the middle of the postgame media session.
And that caught all of his teammates who spoke after the announcement by surprise.
“Wait, who has a concussion?” Saquon Barkley asked, before giving this response about what the quarterback situation might be next week in Arizona: “Got to have the next man up mentality. And no matter if it's Mike or if it's D.J. or if it's Jake (Fromm), when the opportunities are there, the plays need to be made. And we didn't do that today no matter who was at quarterback.”
“It’s my first time hearing that, but that’s the game we play,” added Kenny Golladay. “We’ll just get a good week of preparation and I'm pretty (Fromm) will get the job done.”
Glennon wasn’t particularly effective regardless of when the concussion was suffered, going 23-of-44 for 187 yards with one interception, and the only snap he didn’t take was a direct snap to Saquon Barkley.
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But now, with Glennon in concussion protocol and Daniel Jones still in limbo with whatever his neck injury actually is, the next man up is Jake Fromm, who was signed off Buffalo’s practice squad on Tuesday and not might have to be the third starter in three weeks.
Maybe, because Judge, who spoke before Glennon’s concussion was announced, was once again evasive about Jones’ status, and what Monday’s usual day-after checkups will reveal.
“He'll check with the doctors tomorrow and continue through the progression. They'll continue to evaluate him. And when they deem that he's ready to return for contact to play full, then we'll have him out there playing,” Judge said. “There’s really no change from when we talked on Friday.
He's going to continue being evaluated with the doctors and see where it goes. Again, we've got to trust what they say. We're not going to put any of our players in a position where they go out there and they're at risk.”
Judge reiterated within that statement that the difference between pain management and injury risk is what takes the decision out of his hands.
“We've got a lot of guys that are tough guys. I don't have to question our guys' toughness,” Judge said. “You know, Daniel is a guy that's been chomping at the bit to get back out there. We want to make sure the doctors give us the clearest picture of what his health and status is and what he's safe to do on the field. When he's ready to go, we'll put him out there.”
So, then, if it is Fromm, is Judge confident in what the team can do, given how Glennon got most of the first-team reps this week and still put out that performance?
“Absolutely. I thought the way we worked this week in terms of getting Mike prepared and having Jake prepared and keeping Daniel moving, I thought that was the right way to do,” he said.
No one else on the offense spoke about it other than noting the injury, but one person who knows what the right system can do regardless of the leader is Logan Ryan, who was with the Patriots in 2016 when both Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett each started two games in place of Tom Brady – and the team went 3-1 in those four games en route to a 14-2 season.
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And if you ask Ryan, well, if the Giants need an emergency quarterback next week, he might be the guy.
“I don't know if you guys saw my high school quarterback tape, but I'm going to put it out there, emergency,” he joked. “A lot like Tua, a lefty. I can throw two-yard passes to the left. I'm accurate. I'm smart. I'm going to put it out there. I was a four star recruit. You can check it out, man.”
But seriously, whomever is the QB next week, the team will be ready to rally around him.
“We found a way to win games (in New England), and we’re going to do what we've got to do,” Ryan said. “Had no idea on the injury situation and not going to speak on it, but we're prepared to play some good defense, go get some turnovers, go score some points, support whoever's back there and get ready to have some fun on this trip and find a way to win on the west coast.”
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