Barring a setback, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones will return to the field on Sunday, according to ESPN's Jordan Raanan.
New York will host the Arizona Cardinals at MetLife Stadium (1 p.m. ET) in Week 14.
The second-year QB will have to prove to head coach Joe Judge and the medical staff that he's ready to go, beginning at the walk-through on Wednesday.
“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.
Judge said Jones must display an ability to move out of the pocket before the team feels comfortable giving him the start.
“When there's pressure in the pocket, can he sidestep, can he step up? If he has to leave the pocket and scramble, if there's a gap open for him to go ahead and tuck that ball and run to get a first down, are these things we're OK with him doing and we're confident that he's going to go out there and do it without getting hurt worse.”
Judge acknowledged that Jones came closer than expected to playing in the Giants' Week 13's upset road victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 13. Instead, the Giants started veteran Colt McCoy.
“I had to make the decision 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. … I had to kind of protect him from himself [Sunday]. I didn't want to put him in a position where I wasn't 100% certain that he couldn't defend himself on every single play.”
McCoy completed 13 of 22 passes for 105 yards in place of Jones.
At 5-7, New York now sits atop the NFC East, with a tiebreaker edge over the Washington Football Team.
Through the first 11 starts of his sophomore season, Jones has eight touchdowns against nine interceptions, and is averaging 212.3 yards per game while completing 63.2% of his passes. As Ranaan points out, he has completed 57.7% of his deep throws — the best mark in the NFL.
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