Injury Updates on Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley, Kenny Golladay, Rodarius Williams

Saquon Barkley – © USA TODAY Sports

OCTOBER 11, 2021 NEW YORK GIANTS INJURY REPORT…
Following up on yesterday’s bloodbath in Texas, here is the latest on the injury front:

• QB Daniel Jones is in the NFL’s concussion protocol. “We won’t know anything officially until later in the week,” Head Coach Joe Judge said on Monday. “He’s got a series of steps by league mandate he has to go through, so we’ll wait patiently and get the other guys ready as we wait on him. Hopefully, he’s out there to play. Won’t have a definite answer on that until much later in the week.”
• RB Saquon Barkley sprained his ankle. The NFL Network is reporting that Barkley is expected to miss at least one week and as possibly as many as four weeks. “I can’t confirm a timetable,” Judge said. “In terms of the X-rays that came back, (it was) better news than it could’ve been for us, so it was a little bit of a sigh of relief with a couple of things just knowing the player and what he’s battled through. He’s obviously with the doctors today. In terms of the timetable, we’ll find out a little today, but ultimately it will take the next day or so of him moving around and doing some things with the trainers and see what it will look like for this weekend or maybe the following week.”
• WR Kenny Golladay suffered a knee injury. The NFL Network is reporting that while the injury was originally feared to be serious, Golladay may only miss a week.
• WR Kadarius Toney injured his ankle in the game. “He was at the doctor when we went through our squad meeting today,” Judge said. “We’ll see where that comes out right there. Again, I don’t think – I don’t want to go ahead and put anything out there, but I don’t think it’s anything really significant in terms of season-ending. We’ll see how it affects him immediately in the future for this week. I know this is a guy that throughout the day yesterday was kind of going up and down a little bit with that ankle, but he was definitely fighting through a lot of things until a point where he was jumping back up to get back in the game, so tough kid.”
• CB Rodarius Williams tore an ACL in his knee and will miss the rest of the season.

OCTOBER 11, 2021 JOE JUDGE PRESS CONFERENCE…
New York Giants Head Coach Joe Judge addressed the media on Monday to discuss his team’s 44-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys:

Q: Do you have any updates you can give on (Quarterback) Daniel (Jones), (Running Back) Saquon (Barkley) and (Wide Receiver) Kenny Golladay?

A: I’d say in terms of Daniel, he’s in the protocol, so we won’t know anything officially on where he’s at until later in the week. He’s got a series of steps by league mandate he has to go through, so we’ll wait patiently and get the other guys ready as we wait on him. Hopefully, he’s out there to play. We won’t have a definite answer on that until much later in the week. In terms of Kenny and Saquon, those guys are actually getting looked at as we speak. We’re hopeful they dodged a couple of bullets, but we’ll kind of wait and see what the official diagnosis is for them.

Q: What do you think (Tackle) Andrew Thomas’s status is for this week and how did you feel like (Tackle) Nate Solder did filling in at left tackle?

A: In terms of Andrew, we’re optimistic to go ahead and get him out there with us and get him rolling. We put him in uniform yesterday – it was more of, like I said yesterday, more of an emergency type of deal. We had a plan going in to play the other guys first. He’s been improving as time went on. Nate and (Tackle) Matt (Peart) had a good week of practice last week. Went with them in the game. Think both guys did a lot of good things, some things we’ve obviously got to look at on tape today and clean up and correct. In terms of going out there and moving to the left side, Nate’s got a lot of experience over there, did a lot of good things for us. Tough matchup over there with some of those guys yesterday, but thought he gave us some opportunities, some time to get going. Coming out of the game last night with zero sacks, that’s something that was a goal of ours going in, an emphasis on protecting. The Cowboys are a very good front, a very good defense, able to get some pressure at different times. In terms of holding up as a group through some moving parts. I was pleased with the way the guys prepared and came out.

Q: In the past with Daniel when he’s run, sometimes there’s been ball security issues and things like that. Obviously, yesterday there was nothing like that. When you have a quarterback who you’re going to use his legs on designed runs and things like that, is there always a risk-reward as far as the punishment he’s going to take – he’s fighting for yards, he wants to get the first down, he wants to get to the goal line? When to be smart, when to slide and just the risk – I mean, you were in New England all those years with a quarterback who just did not do these kinds of things, he stayed in the pocket. With a running quarterback, how do you weigh all those things?

A: I’d say there are a lot of times too even nowadays with (Buccaneers Quarterback) Tom (Brady). Tom pulled the ball down a lot, would run and there are some things you have to calculate as far as the risk as the player on the field in the moment and what you have to get in-game. Something we talk to Daniel about a lot is when’s the time to push for the extra yards, when is the time to go ahead and get down and slide and protect yourself or get out of bounds, things of that nature. Obviously, yesterday Daniel went for the goal line on that one. It was a tough situation and we’ll see how he comes out of this.

Q: You were asked about Andrew and I wanted to ask you about Matt Peart. What did you think of his play and did he possibly earn some more snaps with his work on Sunday?

A: I thought Matt did a good job. A large part of Matt getting going into this year was he obviously came into training camp dealing with some things that started him out on PUP. There was a level of managing this guy early in training camp that he’s had to build in throughout the way with conditioning and experience. I thought Matt did a decent job. Plan would be to play all three guys if all three are healthy and keep moving these guys on through the rotation.

Q: First, defensively, what do you make of the idea that – obviously on offense we know there are missing pieces, there are reasons why the offense would struggle, but defensively it’s the same guys, the same coaches, the same scheme. Why do you think your defense has underachieved compared to where it was last year?

A: I think there are some things we have to clean up and make sure that we go out there and execute, and we eliminate what the opponent does well. That’s something that we’ve got to do a better job of as coaches and executing as players that we go out there and we play to what the opponent’s strengths are and make sure we eliminate their opportunities to have big plays and consistently play the way they want to play. That’s something we have to do a better job of as a team right now, something we have to coach better, something we have to execute better with. In terms of maximizing opportunities, when balls come our way, make plays and shut off what the opponent does well.

Q: I know you said Saquon is with the trainers now, but since we talked to you last night I’m sure you got those results back. There’s reports that it’s an ankle sprain and it’s maybe week-to-week, not month-to-month or day-to-day. Can you confirm those?

A: I can’t confirm a timetable. In terms of the X-rays that came back, (it was) better news than it could’ve been for us, so it was a little bit of a sigh of relief with a couple of things just knowing the player and what he’s battled through. He’s obviously with the doctors today. In terms of the timetable, we’ll find out a little today, but ultimately it will take the next day or so of him moving around and doing some things with the trainers and see what it will look like for this weekend or maybe the following week.

Q: You talked a little bit about the calculus of risks with quarterbacks running. Where was Daniel on that spectrum on the play where he got hurt? Is that something he should’ve extended for or tried to live for fourth down there? What was your take?

A: I’m not going to go ahead right now and second-guess anything Daniel did. The guy’s a competitive guy and I talk to him all the time. He’s a tough dude. I know he’s trying to make every extra yard, so I’m not going to sit here right now and try to second-guess what the players do. We’ve got to get the players confident to go out there and execute and be aggressive in what they do. We know he’s a guy that’s going to go ahead and always try to gain that extra yard, compete hard for the team. The ball security through the play – he held onto it through the duration of the play until obviously it came out at the very end. Ball security was solid on that, keeping the ball high and tight and he’s going to the goal line there trying to make a play for the team. We’ll take a look at some of the further schemes going forward, but in terms of Daniel as a runner, that’s something that’s been a strength for our team and it will continue to be a strength for our team.

Q: Was that a designed play or was that something that he picked up on himself? What was the call on that third down play?

A: There’s a number of things that go into all of our schemes. There’s a number of times he goes in – sometimes pre-snap checks or some kind of read the quarterback may have, so in terms of how that one shook out, I’m not going into the specifics. We had run a similar play a couple times in a row and there was a changeup off of it that obviously through the play development we saw.

Q: With Daniel, is it only the concussion or is his neck okay? It just looked like his neck got wrenched there too on that collision.

A: The biggest thing for the protocol is just being in it for the concussion. In terms of anything else, we’ll deal with that as it comes up. Right now, the focus is really the concussion.

Q: As far as the defense, you’re not getting a lot of pressure off the edge. How do you compensate for that? Obviously, around the league that’s how defenses are kind of taking over games, with guys coming off the edge? You just don’t seem to have that. How do you overcome that?

A: I think it comes down to all 11 on the field, I’ve talked about that a lot. In terms of the interior pressure we get to make sure we create the one-on-one matchups on the edge, maximize those opportunities and obviously covering to make sure that we have a chance to get home with the pressure up front. All 11 have to go out there and execute, got to be in the right call to make sure we give our players a chance and we’ve got to go out there and make sure that all 11 are doing their job so that someone has a chance to get home on that. But, we’ve had some pressure. We’ve got to make sure we finalize and capitalize with some tangible results and put them in position. Saw a lot of things yesterday in terms of getting pressure on (Cowboys Quarterback) Dak (Prescott). Fortunately, there was some bad accuracy on some throws. It was a focus of ours going into the game. We’ve got to be more consistent with it and keep making plays.

Q: What’s your message to your team in terms of dealing with these injuries, particularly when it’s to your starting quarterback and standout running back?

A: First off, we don’t want anyone to get hurt, but in terms of just being ready, we all go to practice every day and it’s the job of every coach to get every player ready to play and it’s the job of every player to be ready to play. When your number is called, we always expect everyone to step up, produce and compete for 60 minutes. We’ve got a next-man-up mentality. We don’t want to lose any of our players, I make that clear all the time. There’s a lot of great support in the locker room for each other, but that being said, everybody goes out there waiting for the opportunity to make a play, be productive and help the team. We have faith in our guys that they’ll be ready when we call them.

Q: What kind of confidence do you have in (Quarterback) Mike (Glennon)?

A: I have a ton of confidence in Mike. I have confidence in every player on our roster. Specifically being asked about Mike, I watch the way this guy prepares on a weekly basis. Does a great job as far as knowing our offense and also going against our defense and giving them fits in terms of how he’s really going out there and really competing within the periods, whether he’s running similar schemes to ours or something completely foreign to him that he’s got to simulate for the opponent’s look. I think Mike does a lot of good things, he’s got experience in the league, he’s very knowledgeable in our system, has a lot of good command at the line of scrimmage. He and Daniel work in hand-in-hand every day really seeing things through the same lens and making sure that the offense is being run the same way regardless of who’s in there, so I have a lot of confidence in Mike.

Q: What’s the extent of Rodarius Williams’ knee injury?

A: I can’t give a final – we’ll have to see. He’s getting some final checkups right now and maybe have an announcement for you guys later today. We’ll see where it goes, but I’m hopeful for the player that it’s not season-ending.

Q: I might’ve missed this, but with (Wide Receiver) Kadarius Toney, are you going to apply any discipline to him? Have you talked to him since last evening?

A: Yeah, I spoke to Kadarius already. I’ve spoken to the team as well. Look, that’s something we’re not going to condone. In terms of any discipline, I keep things in-house, so I’m not going to make any kind of public statements about anything that’s going to be happening in-house. But I spoke to KT. I’m not going to speak for him right now, I know he put something out there already, but I like the way this guy has responded to a lot of things and I’m confident he’s going to respond the right way to this.

Q: On Saquon, everybody saw that ankle, it was super swollen. How’s the swelling today from what you heard?

A: I have not put my eyes on his ankle specifically myself. In terms of what I’ve heard from the doctors, I know he had to get another checkup today to kind of take a look at it. This is going to be something I would say I wouldn’t expect him to be full speed on Wednesday, but we’ll see how he kind of loosens up and starts moving. There’s different things we can do for this as far as through treatment and all that and see how it gets going in the right direction.

Q: You seemed to just indicate – it’s a little surprise to me – that you’re going to have him on the field this week, like that’s where he’s at with this injury. Is that what you were saying there?

A: No, I said I would not expect him to be full speed on Wednesday.

Q: But not full speed means you do expect him out there in some degree. I mean, that’s what I’m taking from that. Am I understanding that wrong?

A: I’m not saying he’s going to be out there or not. I don’t have a final answer. He’s with the doctors. I’m just saying from what I know right now, I would not expect him to be anything different for Wednesday. So, whether he’s out there or not, I couldn’t give you an answer at this moment right now.

Q: So my other question was going to be about (Defensive Lineman) Leonard Williams. He obviously signed a huge deal this offseason, right? He’s the highest paid player on your team and with that comes expectations. How much more do you need from him given that he’s getting paid that much and he’s expected to be one of the best players on this defense?

A: Look, in terms of the money, that’s a different department. I leave the money at the door. When the players step in the meeting room, they step on the field, everyone’s on equal playing ground. So, in terms of money dictating expectations, that doesn’t cross the path with us. Everyone’s expected to be at their best, produce and put the team first. In terms of Leonard, he’s a guy that comes to work every day. He works tirelessly, he puts the team first, he’s got a great spirit, he’s got a great attitude, he’s a great leader. I’m pleased with the way he’s working and competing. Obviously, he sees a lot of combinations and double teams, players sliding to him and different things like that. Look, if you’re getting extra attention, we’ve got to make sure we get opportunities for other players to make plays off of one-one- one situations. I’m pleased with how Leonard’s doing. We’ll keep on doing different things schematically as a coaching staff to put him in a position to be successful and productive, but I’m very pleased in how he’s working and how he comes to work every day.

Q: What were the results of Kadarius’ X-rays and how badly is he hurt? Is there any concern that he might miss a game?

A: He was at the doctor when we went through our squad meeting today. We’ll see where that comes out. I don’t want to go ahead and put anything out there, but I don’t think it’s anything really significant in terms of season-ending. We’ll see how it affects him immediately in the future for this week. I know this is a guy that throughout the day yesterday was kind of going up and down a little bit with that ankle, but he was definitely fighting through a lot of things until a point where he was jumping back up to get back in the game, so tough kid.

THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
Transcripts of the media sessions with the following players are available in The Corner Forum:

• WR Kadarius Toney
• LB Lorenzo Carter

WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The players are off on Tuesday and return to practice on Wednesday.