Dolphins move to 4-1 with 31-16 win over Giants, who lose QB Jones to injury

Daniel Jones walked off the field early in the fourth quarter, knowing his day over after he had been quickly diagnosed with a neck injury.

For the New York Giants, the start to this season has been terrible. Sunday, it got worse. And now all eyes turn to Monday, with Jones set to undergo more tests on his neck — amid reminders that a neck injury forced him out of the last six games of the 2021 season.

Jones had X-rays on Sunday and said he will undergo imaging tests on Monday to determine what's wrong.

The Giants lost their starting quarterback after he took another beating in their 31-16 loss Sunday to the Miami Dolphins, getting sacked six times and hit plenty of others.

“I don't know exactly what it is yet," Jones said. “We'll know more tomorrow.”

The Giants are still without their best running back and more than half of what should be their starting offensive line — and given all that it’s no wonder why this season is getting away fast, with New York now 1-4 on the season.

It’s the fifth time in the past seven seasons that the Giants have started 1-4 or worse. No Giants team has ever made the playoffs after such a start. And it’s anyone’s guess where the season goes from here, given the inability so far to score or block enough to give Jones or anyone else on the offense much of a chance.

“Got a lot of good guys with the right mindset,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said. “We're not putting it together in terms of the results we're looking for. It's certainly disappointing, disappointing to lose. But you go back, you look at the stuff, move on and that's what you have to do.”

The Giants are short-handed — running back Saquon Barkley’s ankle injury kept him out of a third consecutive game, and have used four different starter combinations on the offensive line already this season. The AFC East-leading Dolphins also made them look slow-footed, with Tyreek Hill getting two catches of at least 64 yards and De’Von Achane scoring on a 76-yard rush where the Giants looked as if they were standing still.

But it’s the offensive line that might be the biggest issue; more injuries forced New York into using a fourth different starting lineup on the offensive line already this season. Jones got beat up early and often; to his credit, he battled, completing 14 of 20 passes for 119 yards with no interceptions. The Giants gave up seven sacks, pushing their total to 30 allowed so far this season — tying the second most through five games in NFL history. Even backup Tyrod Taylor took a couple of big hits after he came in to replace Jones, but finished the game.

There were no touchdown passes, either. And that’s becoming a trend for the Giants.

For the first time this season, the Giants scored a touchdown before halftime. It was a score by Jason Pinnock.

He plays on defense.

Of all the damning stats about the Giants’ offense through five games, here’s the one that may sting the most: thanks to Pinnock’s 102-yard interception return, the team’s defense now has more first-half touchdowns (one) than the offense does (zero).

“We've got to do a better job all the way around,” Daboll said.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins used big play after big play to run up the score, and big hit after big hit to add to the woes.

Taylor came in to play the final 12 minutes after Jones departed, and would figure to be the starter if Jones has to miss time. No matter who will be under center, the Giants are the opposite of an offensive juggernaut.

The Giants haven’t scored a first-quarter touchdown in any of their past 12 games, going back to last season.

Put that in perspective: Miami had more first-quarter points Sunday (seven) than the Giants have had in their past 12 first quarters (six).

And now they might be without their starter. From bad to worse, just like that.

“We've played some physical games against physical defenses,” Jones said. “We all kind of feel it. It's football. Part of the game.”