New York Giants HC Joe Judge reflects on win over Seattle, status of Daniel Jones

On Monday, New York Giants head coach Joe Judge reflected on the win over the Seahawks and gave an update on the status of Daniel Jones.

The New York Giants‘ 17-12 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday was not only the biggest win of the Joe Judge era, but also the team’s biggest since clinching a playoff berth in 2016.

By beating one of the best teams in the league on the road with a backup quarterback, the Giants proved they’re on the rise and carry the potential to defeat anyone in the NFC.

The most impressive part of the win was how the Giants defense was able to shut down Seattle’s high-powered offense. The unit sacked Russell Wilson five times and frustrated him the entire game.

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On Monday, Judge spoke with the media, and the first question he was asked was how the defense was able to stop Wilson and the opposing offense.

“I don’t know if you completely stop Russell Wilson, but I think our guys did a good job playing with good fundamentals,” he said. “I think all the good plays ultimately come down to good fundamentals. You talk about hands, eyes, and feet. We did a good job of really stressing that this week. We do every week, but our guys did a great job of really carrying it over to the game.”

Anyone that’s watched the Giants over the last month has seen how they’ve improved and become one of the more physical and disciplined ballclubs in the league.

The team is united and has bought into Judge and the rest of the coaching staff’s philosophy. You don’t see any player participating in sideline antics or complaining about how the Giants rotate the offensive line and defensive front seven.

Judge was asked how he handles Will Hernandez earning significantly less playing time in the wake of both his activation off the COVID-19 list and Shane Lemieux’s increase in reps.

“Yeah, I may be screwed up. I don’t really look at any of our players as starters or backups, I look at them as players for our team,” the rookie head coach said. “Will is doing a good job when he goes in there. He’s making a solid contribution. We kind of just rotate everyone through on the offensive line especially.

Coming off their win over the Seahawks, the Giants are the current favorites to win the division. Nonetheless, they still have a tough schedule in front of them beginning this Sunday against the (6-6) Arizona Cardinals, who are desperate for a win after losing three straight.

The Giants are hopeful that Daniel Jones will be able to return to action against the Cardinals, but that all depends on how he fares in practice this week. Jones missed the Week 13 victory due to a hamstring strain suffered the game prior.

“We’re going to give him every opportunity to go on the practice field this week and show that he can defend himself on the field properly,” Judge said. “If that’s the case, then we obviously want him to play. But we’re going to make sure we do the right thing by him. Look, I had to make the decision this week to go ahead and hold him out.

“He was a little disappointed because he’s a competitive guy. But we have Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to get on the field. We’ll see how he looks in there, and we’ll make the best decision for him going forward.”

The Giants are currently 2.5-point underdogs to the Cardinals, but that will likely change if Jones is able to play.