Big Blue View
Head coach Brian Daboll confirms that Banks will be back in the lineup after Monday’s mid-game benching
Deonte Banks, benched for more than half of Monday night’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, will start at cornerback on Sunday for the New York Giants when they host the NFC East-leading Washington Commanders.
“He will,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said when asked if Banks would be in the lineup against Washington, which features star wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
Daboll was vague Sunday night as to why Banks was benched in the middle of the second quarter.
“Just thought needed a little bit more on that series,” is all the coach said Monday night.
Banks has been called out twice this season for lack of effort, once each against the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.
Monday night, Banks missed a pair of tackles on his final defensive series. He also might have been out of position before knocking Steelers wide receiver George Pickens out of the back of the end zone to prevent a Pittsburgh touchdown.
Banks, the Giants’ 2023 first-round pick, did not appear to have any effort-related issues against the Steelers.
Daboll was again evasive when asked to shed more light on the decision to replace Banks with veteran Greg Stroman, who was elevated from the practice squad before the game. Stroman was seeing his first action as a Giant.
“I would just say we made that decision and went in a different direction after the first 27 plays,” Daboll said. “And I have full confidence in Tae that he’ll be ready to go this week. And we’ll do everything we can to help him be ready to go.”
Rookie running back Tyrone Tracy, who slammed the back of his head on the Acrisure Stadium turf of the final carry of a brilliant 20-carry, 145-yard performance against the Steelers, is in the NFL’s concussion protocol.
That much seemed obvious watching a wobbly Tracy leave the field Monday night, but had not been confirmed by the team.
With this being a short week for the Giants, that complicates the possibility that Tracy could clear the protocol in time to be available against the Commanders.
The benching of Daniel Jones that many in the fan base are pining for is not coming ... yet. Daboll was clear Tuesday that Jones will be the quarterback Sunday against the Commanders.
Jones was 24 of 38 passing on Monday for 264 yards, his second-highest total of the season. He had two costly turnovers, a fumble and an interception, late in the fourth quarter. He also failed to throw a touchdown pass for the third straight week, though, to be fair, he had touchdown passes taken off the board by penalty in two of those games.
What did Daboll think of his quarterback’s performance?
“On the last play, the ball got away from him a little bit on the interception. (2:00) The series before...
