:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57104825/603006162.0.jpg)
Giants fans thought losing Odell Beckham Jr. for the season was rock bottom, but this team is still in free fall.
Giants cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie left the team Wednesday, according to head coach Ben McAdoo. Rodgers-Cromartie reportedly had discussions with McAdoo and the front office on Tuesday and Wednesday before leaving the team. The Giants have since suspended him.
In a text message conversation with ESPN’s Josina Anderson, Rodgers-Cromartie said that he left the team because of a dispute with McAdoo over playing time. He added that he was suspended before he left, but that he’ll be back on Thursday.
#Giants CB DRC told me he & Ben McAdoo had an argument on the sidelines about playing. Admits he 'handled it the wrong way.' [More]
— Josina Anderson (@JosinaAnderson) October 11, 2017
#NYG CB DRC cont 2me:
— Josina Anderson (@JosinaAnderson) October 11, 2017
"but to sit me a game had me hot, so I left. I was suspended way before I left. I left bc I felt what he said was BS."
Whether the Giants will allow Rodgers-Cromartie to return immediately is still a mystery.
New York entered the season with playoff aspirations, but the Giants are now 0-5, along with Cleveland and San Francisco, in a season that has quickly derailed, rolled off of a cliff, and is now hurtling toward the earth’s crust. McAdoo doesn’t seem to be aware he may have lost the locker room, and possibly soon his job, while Eli Manning doesn’t seem to be aware of anything.
Ben McAdoo on the perception he's lost the team: "Not concerned about perception, concerned about reality."
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) October 11, 2017
Asked Eli Manning what he saw Sun between DRC & any members of the coaching staff. Said he didn’t see anything & all of this is new to him
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) October 11, 2017
The Giants lost four receivers to foot and ankle injuries in their loss to the Chargers, including a gruesome season-ending ankle fracture for Odell Beckham Jr. Now one of the defensive leaders of the team is feuding with the head coach. At this point, the best-case scenario for the Giants may be to keep losing until McAdoo is fired and the team gets a draft pick high enough that they can select Eli Manning’s successor.
That plan looks good this week. To the chagrin of the entire country, the Giants will head to Denver to take on the Broncos on Sunday Night Football with their season in turmoil. If New York is going to go down in flames, America will have to watch it happen.
This piece was updated after publication.
