Russell Wilson flat in opener; Giants noncommittal for Week 2

Russell Wilson might not make a second start for the New York Giants.

Wilson, who started his 200th career game on Sunday at Washington, completed 17 of 37 passes (45.9 percent) for 168 yards in a 21-6 loss to the Commanders and led the team in rushing with 44 yards.

Given multiple opportunities to declare Wilson would get his 201st career start next week in Dallas, Giants head coach Brian Daboll never found the words.

“We’re gonna get home, look at our game. Collectively we’ve all got to do better,” Daboll said, dancing around multiple questions about his commitment to Wilson as the Giants’ starter. “We’re just right here, after the game, I’ve got confidence in Russell. We’ve got to better around overall, players, coaches, around everybody. We’ll get focused and ready to go on Dallas. … We’re talking about after every game. I’ve got confidence in Russ. So we’re gonna go back, we’ll evaluate the tape.”

Rookie first-round pick Jaxson Dart was the No. 2 quarterback on Sunday. In an offense designed to find downfield opportunities, Dart was decisive in the preseason and averaged 7.9 yards per pass attempt with three touchdown passes. Wilson’s average Sunday was 4.5 yards.

Generating six points and 231 total yards has a way of turning coaches on the hot seat to introspection. Sunday’s loss might be viewed as an improvement over the Giants’ 40-0 defeat at the hands of the Cowboys in Week 1 of the 2023 season and the 28-6 loss to the Vikings in last year’s opener.

No matter how the defeat is scored in the public eye, losses are piling up for the Giants. It was Daboll’s 26th since the 2023 season began.

With 2:36 left in the game, Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers was captured seated on the bench by FOX television cameras with his face entirely covered by a towel. Daboll spent part of one break appearing to tamp Nabers’ emotions on the field near the sideline.

“I thought we competed our butts off today,” Wilson said. “That was a physical game. We left it all on the field, we gave it our all physically.”

Wilson recovered his own fumble, an interception was negated by a roughing-the-passer call on linebacker Bobby Wagner, and the Giants converted only four times on 16 third-down attempts.

New York played without left tackle Andrew Thomas, who is not fully recovered from a 2024 season-ending foot injury. TruMedia advanced metrics from the Week 1 game put the Commanders’ pressure rate at 42.6 percent despite rushing more than four on only 26 percent of defensive snaps.

“This game isn’t on Russell Wilson. It’s not on Russell Wilson. I want to make that clear,” Daboll said. “I have confidence in Russ, we’ve got to do a better job all the way around.”

The Giants never reached the end zone and mustered only two field goals. They punted six times on nine possessions.