Daniel Jones' neck injury will cost him more than just the remainder of New York's Week 5 loss to Miami.
Jones will not play in the Giants' date with the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night, coach Brian Daboll announced Friday.
Jones suffered the neck injury early in the fourth quarter of New York's 31-16 defeat when he was sacked by Miami's Andrew Van Ginkel. He exited and did not return, with some fearing his injury could be serious enough to cost him significant time.
Jones ended up receiving fairly positive news on his injury, which was not related to a prior injury that cost him the final six games of the 2021 season. Earlier in the week, he claimed he was still hoping to play Sunday night.
Instead, it will cost him at least one game against a team that ranks fourth in pressure rate, despite only blitzing sporadically through five weeks. It might be for the best: Jones has been under constant duress in 2023, ranking dead last in times sacked (28) in five games.
He rarely has time to throw, let alone think. Rolling out a banged-up Jones wouldn't be in New York's best interest, even if they're 1-4 and desperately need to turn things around before it gets too late.
Veteran Tyrod Taylor will take Jones' place in the meantime, and his first start of 2023 will come against the team he knows best. Of Taylor's 53 career starts, 43 came with the Bills from 2015-2017. He posted a 22-20 win-loss record and a 51-16 touchdown-to-interception ratio with the Bills before Buffalo drafted Josh Allen and effectively moved on from the Virginia Tech product.
Sunday night will be Taylor's first start with the Giants after joining the team in 2022. It will be the fifth team for which Taylor has started a game in his career.
At 34 years old, Taylor certainly has enough experience to handle the job. But the Giants will hope they won't have to rely on Taylor for long.
