New York Giants

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones left Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys and was diagnosed with a concussion.

Jones was tackled at the goal line by two Cowboys players in the second quarter. He was examined on the field by Giants trainers and carted back to the locker room.

Jones missed two games last season because of hamstring and ankle injuries. The then-second-year quarterback sat out New York's 17-12 win over the Seattle Seahawks with a strained hamstring he originally suffered the previous week against the Cincinnati Bengals.

After returning to the lineup in Week 14 against the Arizona Cardinals, Jones suffered a sprained ankle. He was forced to sit out the Giants' next game against the Cleveland Browns.

The Giants signed veteran Mike Glennon in the offseason to serve as Jones' backup. Glennon started five games for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2020, throwing for 1,072 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions.

Jones has a lot riding on this season. The Giants can exercise the fifth-year option on his rookie contract next offseason. If he performs well this year, that option will be a no-brainer for the organization.

Through four games, the results have been mixed for Jones and bad for the Giants. He has thrown for 1,184 yards, run for 188 yards and accounted for six touchdowns.

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley was carted off the field midway through the first quarter with a left ankle injury during Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Giants ruled him out for the rest of the game, and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported afterward that Barkley was believed to have suffered a low-ankle sprain, which could force him to only miss one week.

However, Rapoport later reported that Barkley could miss two to four weeks with the injury (40-second mark of the video):

There was some concern during the preseason about whether Barkley would be available when the regular season began, as he was recovering from a torn ACL that ended his 2020 season in Week 2.

Barkley's first practice with the team was Aug. 9, and the 24-year-old made it through camp without any setbacks and was in the lineup for Week 1 against the Denver Broncos, albeit on a limited basis. He did play over 80 percent of the team's snaps in each of their next two games.

The Giants need Barkley to play at the level he did in his first two seasons to have any chance of competing in 2021. In 2018 and 2019, he averaged 1,735 yards from scrimmage and 11.5 total touchdowns on 310.5 total touches.

Until Barkley is able to return, the 1-4 Giants will turn to Devontae Booker as their primary running back.

New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard will miss Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints because of a hamstring injury.

The Giants will also be without the services of receiver Darius Slayton, who's battling a hamstring problem as well.

Shepard led the Giants in receptions (66) and was second in receiving yards (656) in 2020. It was a solid return considering he missed four games because of turf toe.

Injuries have been a persistent—albeit relatively minor—issue for the 28-year-old, who missed 15 combined games over the past four seasons. That's important for both him and the Giants considering his four-year, $41 million extension allows New York to move on after this season without a big cap hit.

Based on his production in 2021 (18 receptions for 223 yards and one touchdown), Shepard won't be going anywhere.

Sensing a need to upgrade quarterback Daniel Jones' supporting cast, the Giants signed receiver Kenny Golladay and tight end Kyle Rudolph and selected receiver Kadarius Toney in the first round of the 2021 draft. Their arrivals will help to cushion the blow of Shepard's injury.

One or more players will need to help make up for Shepard's production, so this also allows tight end Evan Engram the opportunity to build on his first Pro Bowl campaign as he approaches free agency.

Saquon Barkley's struggles through the first three weeks of the 2021 season are understandable, given he's coming off an ACL tear.

Just don't tell him that. 

Barkley told reporters Thursday:

"I don't want to make any excuses. I'm not going to do that throughout this whole season. I'm never going to make any excuses. The expectation that people have for me, it's not even close to the expectation I have for myself -- and it never will be as long as I play football or whatever I do after football. That is just my mindset."

The Giants running back has accumulated just 134 yards on the ground through the first three weeks, averaging 3.4 yards per carry. He's also added just nine catches for 56 yards as the Giants have lost their first three games. 

Injuries have derailed Barkley's career since he compiled 2,028 total yards during his brilliant rookie season. He went down with a high-ankle sprain in 2019 and then tore his ACL two games into the 2020 campaign. Despite still not regularly practicing as a full participant, Barkley managed to ready himself for Week 1.

He said Thursday: 

"I hold myself to a high standard. I know this team holds me to a high standard. I know a lot of people hold me to a high standard. Like I always say, I set my own expectations. Right now, I just have to keep working, keep growing, keep improving.

"I know what I'm coming off of. My mom and dad try to make me understand I'm coming off a knee injury. Try to teach me patience in there. I just have to keep being patient with it. I have to keep getting better and keep trusting it, trusting the process and keep working."

Patience isn't likely coming from a Giants fanbase desperate for a winner. The franchise hasn't made the playoffs since 2016 and is on pace for its eighth losing season in nine years. 

With general manager Dave Gettleman and head coach Joe Judge firmly on the hot seat, Barkley has several people relying on him to pick up his performance. 

The New York Giants announced Thursday that they've added 2020 first-round pick Isaiah Wilson to their practice squad.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Wednesday the Giants would sign Wilson after he was waived by the Miami Dolphins in March.

Wilson declared for the NFL draft after an outstanding 2019 season at Georgia. He was named second-team All-SEC as a redshirt sophomore and helped the Bulldogs win the SEC East and defeat Baylor in the Sugar Bowl. 

The Tennessee Titans selected the 6'7" offensive tackle with the No. 29 pick in the 2020 draft. Wilson was expected to compete for a spot in the starting lineup as a rookie, but his career was immediately derailed. 

He had two different stints on the COVID-19 reserve list prior to the start of the regular season. He was also arrested and charged with DUI in Nashville in September 2020. 

After being inactive from Weeks 5 to 10 and not playing in Week 11, Wilson made his NFL debut Nov. 29 when he played three snaps in a 45-26 win over the Indianapolis Colts. That was the only game the 22-year-old appeared in.

In February, Wilson deleted a tweet saying he was "done with football as a Titan." The team traded him to the Miami Dolphins, along with a 2022 seventh-round draft pick, the following month for a 2021 seventh-round pick.

The Dolphins waived Wilson three days after acquiring him. ESPN's Cameron Wolfe reported Wilson showed up late to his team physical and onboarding process and skipped "multiple optional workouts that he agreed to attend" as part of his deal with the organization.

The Giants are taking a buy-low opportunity to see if he wants to salvage his career.

If Wilson makes progress, the Giants may have found a serviceable offensive tackle at virtually no cost.

Don't talk to New York Giants head coach Joe Judge about how analytics play into his in-game decisions. 

Asked by reporters Wednesday about how analytics inform his decision of whether to go for it on fourth down, Judge brought up Microsoft Excel and Bill Gates. 

"Analytics is just a tool," Judge said. "You can look at a stat sheet all you want. I promise you, if Excel was gonna win football games, Bill Gates would be killing it right now. But you've got to take those numbers."

It's worth noting that Forbes estimates Gates' net worth at $129.6 billion. He's not an NFL head coach, but he's doing OK for himself from a financial standpoint. 

Judge is fair to point out that analytics is "just a tool." But it's a tool every NFL team uses, and some of the most successful franchises employ it on a consistent basis. 

Per a September 2020 survey conducted by ESPN's Seth Walder, six of the 12 playoff teams from the 2019 season were voted among the 10 most analytically advanced organizations in the NFL. 

The Baltimore Ravens are widely regarded as the most analytically inclined organization in the NFL. They have made the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, including posting the NFL's best record during the 2019 regular season (14-2). 

Judge has been fairly conservative on fourth-down situations since taking over as Giants head coach in 2020. They ranked 13th in fourth-down attempts last season and have only tried three through the first three games in 2021. 

This season, Judge has opted to punt the ball away in opposing territory rather than attempt long field goals. 

In Week 3, he punted on 4th-and-4 from the Atlanta Falcons' 39-yard line in the third quarter of a game the Giants were losing 7-6. The Falcons ended up punting after getting the ball back, and New York scored a touchdown on its next possession. 

Atlanta wound up winning the game 17-14 thanks to two scoring drives in the fourth quarter. 

Two weeks ago against the Washington Football Team, Judge sent the punt team out on a 4th-and-13 from Washington's 38-yard line rather than kick a 55-yard field goal late in the first quarter with a 7-0 lead. 

The Football Team drove 90 yards down the field to tie the game on their possession. Washington won the game 30-29 on Dustin Hopkins' 49-yard field goal as time expired. 

Giants kicker Graham Gano made field goals from 52 yards and 55 yards earlier in the game. He is 7-of-7 on field-goal attempts and 3-of-3 on extra points this season.  

The Giants enter Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints as one of five teams with an 0-3 record.

Things aren't going great in New York City. 

The Giants and Jets have combined to go 0-6 to start the 2021 NFL season and, as you might imagine, the teams' fans are not happy about it. Take a look:

"Of course I heard it," John Mara said after the ceremony, per Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. "Listen, I would have booed, too. We're 0-2 and down at the half."

Woof. 

But, hey, who could blame them? Take a look at this bleak stat:

That's... obviously not great, and New York sports fans have never had a reputation for being warm and fuzzy when their teams aren't playing well. It's going to be a long football season in the Big Apple.