Following a Week 4 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football, New York Giants offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu sat quietly at his locker, staring off into space for an extended period of time.
The Giants had just surrendered 11 combined sacks and were humiliated on national television.
On Sunday, the Giants were again embarrassed, this time courtesy of the Miami Dolphins, who recorded seven combined sacks en route to a 31-16 victory that wasn’t even that close.
Adding injury to the insult, quarterback Daniel Jones suffered a neck injury and was forced to leave the game. It was Ezeudu who allowed the hit.
Ezeudu was immediately pulled from the game and replaced by Matt Peart, but the negative emotions from that moment carried over.
Again sitting at his locker in disbelief, Ezeudu was overcome with guilt for the injury sustained by Jones. He tried to fight back tears but could not.
From the New York Daily News:
Giants left tackle Josh Ezeudu was in tears at his locker after Sunday’s 31-16 loss to the explosive Miami Dolphins. But Daniel Jones’ neck injury, postgame X-rays and scheduled Monday scan aren’t Ezeudu’s fault.
Jones has “pain” in his “sore” neck after Andrew Ginkel’s crushing fourth quarter sack because Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll didn’t build an offensive line to protect their most important asset after paying Jones like a franchise quarterback.
It’s not on a second-year player who couldn’t win a starting guard spot in training camp but was told to protect Jones’ blind side anyway when Andrew Thomas got hurt.
“I’m sorry, I can’t be late off the ball,” an emotional Ezeudu said he told Jones, via The Athletic. “He was just like, ‘It’s fine, but just keep on working.”
It would be easy to pile on Ezeudu for his mistake and the several other penalties called against him, but this is hardly his fault. He’s a reserve guard starting out of position at tackle because the Giants and general manager Joe Schoen failed to provide enough depth at the position. It was a glaring issue this offseason and even entering the season, but it went largely ignored.
The Giants are now paying the consequences for that oversight. They are on pace to set the NFL’s all-time record in sacks allowed and that pales in comparison to the danger they’re putting their quarterbacks in.
Not only was Jones forced to leave the game due to injury on Sunday, but his replacement, Tyrod Taylor, also got banged up. Luckily, he only had the wind knocked out of him but you can bet he feels all those hits on Monday morning.
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