The New York Giants are heading into a crucial game in Week 2 against the Denver Broncos and after losing in terrible fashion to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, head coach Tom Coughlin has called out running back David Wilson, saying that he needs to improve holding onto the ball to keep playing as the starting running back for the team.
According to ESPN NY, Coughlin said that Wilson is now "a marked man" when it comes to carrying the ball, as he fumbled twice in the opening loss to the Cowboys and those came after he fumbled in his debut game as a rookie last year on opening night, which resulted in another loss to Dallas. The Giants entered the season with Wilson and Andre Brown as the primary running backs, but after Brown went down with a broken leg, the second year player from Virginia Tech was given the starting job and clearly he wasn't quite ready for it.
Wilson and Brown were looked at as one of the running back tandems this season with the most upside, but now things have fallen apart a bit for the Giants heading into Week 2. Da'Rel Scott ended up getting more carries after Wilson was benched, but that didn't help much either, because on the most crucial play of the game. Scott allowed a pass to go off his hands and into the arms of Brandon Carr, effectively ending the game for the Giants when they had the chance to win.
Wilson is a talented back after coming out in the first round of the draft, but if the Giants don't fix him like they did when Tiki Barber had fumbling issues, it could be the end of his time in New York. The team signed former player Brandon Jacobs so that they will have another veteran running back on the roster until Brown returns, but it remains to be seen how much he will play. Jacobs contributed to both Super Bowl wins for the team in the past decade and he is one of the all-time leading rushers for the team.
Wilson had one massive game last year while rushing and returning kicks for over 300 yards and the Giants were hoping for more of that against the Cowboys, but instead they got two crucial fumbles. The team turned the ball over six times in the game and still only lost by six and now the Giants risk going 0-2 on the year when they face the Broncos on Sunday at home. The Giants like Wilson and what he brings to the table, but with Michael Cox the only other running back on the depth chart, the team needed someone else to come in and they decided to sign Jacobs over Willis McGahee and other backs.