Colt McCoy Will Reportedly Start for Giants Sunday vs. Cleveland

Hamstring, ankle injuries were too much for Giants quarterback Daniel Jones to overcome.

The Giants are reportedly planning to start back up quarterback--and former Cleveland Browns starter--Colt McCoy Sunday night.

ESPN was first to report the decision, which had been trending in that direction all week, given Jones's limited status in practice combined with the Giants having to cancel practice Thursday out of an abundance of caution following offensive coordinator Jason Garrett's testing positive for COVID-19.

McCoy was Cleveland's third-round pick (No. 85 overall) in the 2010 draft out of Texas. He appeared in 24 games with 21 starts for the Browns between 2010-12.

This season, McCoy, 8-21 as a starting NFL quarterback, has appeared in three games for the Giants with one start, that being a winning effort against Seattle two weeks ago.

As a member of the Giants, McCoy is 21 of 35 for 154 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

Before starting against the Seahawks, McCoy had last started a game in 2019 as a member of the Washington Football Team.

The decision to start McCoy over hobbled starter Daniel Jones comes as no surprise. Jones is on Week three of dealing with a right hamstring strain, and last weekend he suffered a sprained left ankle against the Cardinals late in the first half that he tried to play through.

McCoy will work this week with tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens, appointed as the team's play-caller while Garrett recovers from COVID-19.

McCoy said Thursday that having gotten one starting assignment under his belt this season in this offensive system would probably make things easier for him if he were to be called upon to start again.

"Yeah, I think maybe that might be a little more familiar to me after having played two weeks ago," McCoy said.

"I just think that our group, especially on offense, has to be really focused, really sharp on our details and on our efficiency and the things we’re doing and kind of what’s working in the game because it’s been a crazy week around here."

Giants head coach Joe Judge said he was encouraged by what McCoy showed in his start against the Seahawks a couple weeks ago.

"I think he did a lot of things well. First off, I love the way he just controlled the flow of the game, the tempo of the game. Colt was on the line of scrimmage, identifying what the defense was in, putting us in the right place, made some big plays for us down the stretch with some key completions to continue drives," Judge said.

"He did a good job when he had to go ahead and check from a run to a pass or vice versa. I thought just his experience really showed up in that game."