Las Vegas: The Giants were optimistic going into their Sunday matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders that they could win and spark a comeback in the second half of the season. Daniel Jones, the quarterback, returned and began after sitting out the previous three games with a neck injury, which was a major factor in their optimism.
The positive vibes persisted for 21 attacking plays. On the opening play of the second quarter, Jones sustained a knee injury that required him to leave the game and may require more time to recover, based on the findings of the tests and scans he will have on Monday.
Coach Brian Daboll stated, “He will get tested and find out where it’s at.” “They took X-rays of him, and when they returned, nothing was amiss. Tomorrow, further tests, MRIs, and other procedures will be completed. We’ll obtain the information and check its status when we return because you never know with those things.”
The Giants lost to the Raiders, 30-6, and finished the season 2-7 without Jones for the majority of the contest.
How difficult was it for Daboll to watch Jones lose?
“Hard,” he murmured. “You never want to lose with your team. It’s awful since he has worked really hard to get back.”
The Giants’ starting quarterback was replaced by rookie Tommy DeVito for the second straight week. In the Jets game last week, he took Tyrod Taylor’s spot. In lieu of Jones on Sunday, he completed 15 of 20 throws for 175 yards, including the Giants’ lone touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, a nine-yard pass to Wan’Dale Robinson. Additionally, DeVito threw two interceptions in the second quarter that the Raiders used to score ten points
“We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves by any means,” DeVito stated. “Clearly, things do happen. They played excellent football and came out with a lot of intensity. Two of my turnovers resulted in points. That is undoubtedly not helpful to our defense. We must play more aggressively, get out there and create plays, and I must create more plays.”
In their debut game under interim coach Antonio Pierce, the former Giants linebacker, Las Vegas led 7-0 at the quarter and 24-0 at the half.
Running back Saquon Barkeley, who gained 90 yards on the ground and 23 yards on three receptions, said, “It sucks, but got to be a pro about it, make no excuses.” “The season is still quite long ahead of us. With everything going on right now, I’m obviously not happy that we’re 2–7, but we take off, recuperate, and prepare for the Cowboys game in Dallas the following week.”
Jones was not the only player from the Giants to limp off the field. In the second half, Adoree’ Jackson sustained a concussion. Late in this game, tackle Evan Neal—who had missed the previous two due to a right ankle injury—was replaced by a left ankle injury. Due to a hamstring ailment, the Giants were missing their top receiver, Darren Waller, while their kicker, Graham Gano, was sidelined due to a knee injury. Like Taylor, they have been placed on injured reserve.
Now, the
Giants wait
for the results of Jones’ medical tests to learn who will be their quarterback going forward. If Jones is sidelined, the Giants’ only healthy passers are DeVito and veteran Matt Barkley, who is on the practice squad.
Neal described the various injuries as “horrible.” It’s absolutely not ideal, especially considering how well we were doing the year before and where we are right now. However, there are instances when it’s just part of the industry. We are just able to go on, face the next week, report to work the following day, and get by with what we have.”
In fact, Jones was injured on the last play of the first quarter when Maxx Crosby sacked him for a 7-yard loss and his right knee bowed strangely. Jones stepped to the sideline in between quarters and declared himself well enough to play on
“He felt like he buckled and then he was running it off,” Daboll stated. “We approached him and spoke with him; after saying, ‘Nah, I’m good,’ he left. Clearly, he wasn’t.
“All of us, the trainers and coaches, spoke with him. ‘How are you doing?’ we asked. “I’m good,” he declared. I’m doing fine. He continued to jog back and forth after that and declared, “I’m good.”
The play after that showed he wasn’t. Jones took a shotgun snap, fell to the ground, and no one was within five yards of him as he was backing up to seek for a receiver. He got up and headed straight for the medical tent located on the Giants’ sideline. Jones stayed on the field for a few minutes before leaving to be observed more closely. At the onset of the third quarter, the Giants declared that Jones would not be coming back
Enter DeVito, who got 11 yards on his first play passing to Daniel Bellinger, which was 12 more yards than he had achieved in his Jets debut the previous week.
“It was pretty much the same as last week,” DeVito remarked. “Everyone kind of looked at me last week when Ty fell and took a while to get up, saying, ‘Hey, get ready to go get some snaps.'” The same arrangement for this week. Just before the first quarter, DJ went down. After the quarter ended, he declared himself okay, went outside, and then went down once more. I just continued and snapped a few pictures with John Michael (Schmitz Jr.).
The third and fourth quarters saw an 11-play, 84-yard march that culminated in DeVito’s first career touchdown pass to Robinson, who was wide open in the end zone. That was the Giants’ sole successful drive. The Giants were behind 27–6 after their 2-point attempt was failed.
“We were down, so we weren’t able to really celebrate or anything like that,” DeVito explained. But during that drive and, I believe, the previous drive, you witnessed us advance the ball down the field. At that moment, I believe the offensive really got going, but it was too late.
Jakobi Myers’ 17-yard end around, Josh Jacobs’ two short touchdown runs, and three field goals from Daniel Carlson were enough for the Raiders to score. Aidan O’Connell, a rookie quarterback, completed 16 of 25 throws for 209 yards with no interceptions and without ever being sacked.
“They did a good job early in the game running the ball and hitting some big plays,” Daboll stated. “They seized the chances that were presented to them. I felt they performed admirably. Their quarterback performed admirably, in my opinion, and the receivers made some huge plays down the field by getting open and catching the pass. They performed admirably on offense. I acknowledge their contributions.”
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