Amidst the embarrassment of their Week 7 blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the New York Giants made the decision to bench starting quarterback Daniel Jones for the fourth quarter. Backup Drew Lock played out the final quarter of the game which ended in a 28–3 loss and a 2-5 record for Big Blue.
Head coach Brian Daboll told reporters after the game that he made the quarterback change in an effort to provide a spark to the offense. But will this change be made permanent following the Week 7 defeat?
The Giants are planning to stick with Daniel Jones as the starting quarterback
Despite Jones being benched, Daboll told the media after the game that the plan is to stick with him as the starter moving forward:
“Made a change in the fourth quarter when it was 28-3, we had 100 yards, just to create a spark,” Daboll said of the switch to Lock (h/t NFL.com). “Daniel will be the quarterback going forward. But obviously we didn’t do enough offensively. Hardly had any yards. No points.”
Jones has struggled this season but the plan for now is to continue with him as the team’s starting quarterback. He finished Sunday’s game with just 99 passing yards and a 16.6 QBR. Jones has not thrown a touchdown in six straight home games. This season, he has a 6-4 TD-INT ratio and four games without a score in seven starts.
For some, it’s hard to justify keeping Jones as the starting quarterback. But then again, Lock isn’t necessarily viewed as an upgrade. Perhaps he could provide the desired “spark,” but it’s highly unlikely this offense’s problems would be fixed with Lock under center as the starting quarterback.
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Nevertheless, the Giants could change course and make Lock the starter at some point this season anyway. Jones has a $23 million injury guarantee in his contract that looms overhead. The Giants could make the decision to bench Jones at some point this season in order to protect their financial future.
