JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Daniel Bellinger left the visitors’ locker room at TIAA Bank Field with an ice bag pressed to the left side of his face. His left eye was completely swollen shut after a tough-to-see injury in the second quarter that knocked the rookie tight end out for the remainder of what turned into a 23-17 Giants’ victory over the Jaguars on Sunday.
“He got poked in the eye and I would say his eye looks terrible right now,’’ coach Brian Daboll said. “He looked like he took a pretty good hook shot there. It’s pretty swollen.’’
Bellinger went down late in the second quarter after a 14-yard reception when he was inadvertently poked in the eye through his facemask on the tackle by cornerback Tre Herndon. Bellinger needed to be carted off, with blood on his white jersey, and was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. He was released and traveled back with the team. He will see an ophthalmologist on Monday.
Daniel Jones is the first Giants quarterback to rush for 100 yards in a long time — since Frank Filchock did it in 1946, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
CB Adoree’ Jackson was evaluated for a concussion but was able to finish the game.
The Giants won their first game in Jacksonville, where they had been 0-3.
Before Sunday, the last time Landon Collins wore a Giants uniform was Week 13 of the 2018 season. The Giants beat the Bears in overtime but Collins went down with a partially torn rotator cuff and was placed on injured reserve. Collins, elevated from the practice squad, filled the role veteran safety Tony Jefferson held for three games before he hurt his foot and went on injured reserve. Jefferson played 13, 10 and 13 snaps in his three games.
Collins made a key tackle on a screen pass to Travis Etienne early in the second quarter to limit the gain to 5 yards and force the Jaguars to settle for a field goal.
Leading 17-13 early in the fourth quarter, Jaguars coach Doug Pederson decided to go for the first down on fourth-and-1 from the Giants 20-yard line. The call was a quarterback sneak with Trevor Lawrence but he was stuffed for no gain by the combination of Jaylon Smith and Julian Love. The Giants took over with 11:25 remaining and put together a 79-yard drive for the winning points.
“We were having really a lot of success on the ground,’’ Pederson said. “And it was a great situation right there to do that. Credit the Giants, they stopped us.’’
The Giants’ six inactives were five injured players — CB Cor’Dale Flott, WR Kenny Golladay, WR Kadarius Toney, OLB Oshane Ximines, S Jason Pinnock — and one healthy scratch — LB Austin Calitro. OLB Azeez Ojulari (calf) was put on injured reserve this week, meaning he will miss the next four games.
Hero
Daniel Jones is making those around him better and is showing some attitude on the field, which is a good thing. He bedeviled the Jaguars by running for a career-high 107 yards and threw it effectively enough (19 of 30, 202 yards). Jones continues to steer clear of turnovers, smartly throwing the ball away when needed.
Zero
It is difficult to mention Travis Etienne here after he ran for 114 yards and one touchdown. But the Jaguars were on their way to extending their slim lead in the second quarter when Etienne was stripped of the ball on the Giants’ 5-yard line for a fumble that the Giants recovered in the end zone.
Unsung hero
Cornerback Justin Moreau has saved the day, moving in as a starter and he makes plays when it counts. On the final frantic series, he had a key pass breakup on Marvin Jones, had an interception called back by a penalty and was able to hold up Christian Kirk at the 1-yard line as time expired.
Key stat
13 Penalties on the Jaguars for 81 yards, which somewhat negated the Giants getting flagged for eight penalties and 67 yards.
Quote of the day
“If we executed better we definitely could have done more to not make it such a nail-biter at the end. My first three years here we’ve had a lot of games we ended up losing that were moral victories and that gets old. I’d much rather be angry and learn from a win than be ‘We played great but we didn’t manage to get the win.’ ”
— WR Darius Slayton
