EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – New York Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss Sunday night’s game against the Cleveland Browns.
Coach Freddie Kitchens will take on duties against his former team less than a calendar year after the Browns fired him.
The Giants canceled the practice Thursday “with great caution.” They are working with the medical chief of the league to determine the next steps. Looks like there has been no close contact since Thursday morning.
The Giants coaches and players did not meet in person on Monday or Tuesday. According to league guidelines, they operated remotely. The Giants practiced in person on Wednesday.
Garrett was hired this past season to lead the Giants offense after nine seasons as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. But it has been a struggle, especially without Saquon Barkley debuting a star. Only the New York Jets have scored fewer points this season than the Giants, who are a first-place game in the NFC East in Week 15.
The Giants (5-8) also don’t know if starting quarterback Daniel Jones will be healthy enough to start against the Browns. Coach Joe Judge said Wednesday it was too early to make a decision one way or another.
Kitchens, who has experience in theatrical calling, will work with Jones or Colt McCoy, another former Brown. He has spent this season primarily guiding the Giants ’narrow ends, but the judge noted earlier this week that he had been a“ tremendous help throughout the season in the way he helps with game planning and research reports. “.
Garrett will continue to work remotely this season.
The success of the kitchens with the Browns at the end of the 2018 season earned him promotion to head coach last year. Cleveland finished 13th in total offense during Baker Mayfield’s rookie season. He threw 19 of his record 27 touchdown passes in the last eight games under the Kitchens when the Browns went 5-3.
But Cleveland fired Kitchens after a rocky 2019 season where Mayfield stepped back and threw 21 interceptions.
The judge worked hard to get Cuines to be part of his staff. The two have ties of their time together in the state of Mississippi and Alabama, and the judge considers the former head coach to be a trusted confidant.
Now, on Sunday, he has become Freddie Kitchens ’last rematch game with a chance to play plays again against the team that fired him after a rocky season as head coach. The Browns (9-4) have a strong first year under new coach Kevin Stefanski, something Kitchens has noticed from a distance.
“I couldn’t be happier for Cleveland fans,” he said earlier this week. “They’ve waited a long time to have something like this to go to the games and cheer them on. But no two teams are alike. We say that every year.”