Thanksgiving weekend concluded with a Monday night game between the Giants and the Patriots. Nielsen has released the official viewership number for the game televised by ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN Deportes, and all other windows for the week of December 1 through December 7.
The total audience for Giants-Patriots was 11.346 million viewers.
It’s no surprise that the number was sluggish. For starters, it wasn’t simulcast by ABC, which necessarily carves into the total audience. Then there’s the fact that the Giants are having (another) down year. Also, it was essentially over by halftime.
For the week of December 1 through December 7, the Fox late afternoon game (primarily featuring Bears-Packers) averaged 27.943 million viewers. Sunday Night Football between the Texans and Chiefs finished second, with 21.762 million.
The Giants-Patriots game finished eighth among all sports broadcasts, behind every other NFL window (Sunday afternoon and Thursday night), the Big 10 championship (18.332 million) and the SEC championship (15.747 million).
Giants Clips
Giants edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux missed the team’s final three games before their Week 14 bye with a shoulder injury and he wasn’t ready to get back on the field Wednesday.
Thibodeaux remained out of practice as the team began their on-field work ahead of Sunday’s game against the Commanders. Head coach Mike Kafka said at his press conference that Thibodeaux “looks good,” but didn’t indicate when he might be back in the lineup.
Punter Jamie Gillan (left knee), defensive lineman D.J. Davidson (illness), linebacker Victor Dimukeje (knee), cornerback Nic Jones (shoulder), defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches, wide receiver Gunner Olszewski (concussion), and guard Greg Van Roten (shoulder) were also out of practice.
Tight end Theo Johnson (toe) was a limited participant. Cornerback Korie Black (biceps), wide receiver Beaux Collins (neck), offensive lineman Joshua Ezeudu (calf), linebacker Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (neck, knee), cornerback Art Green (hamstring), linebacker Darius Muasau (ankle), and running back Tyrone Tracy (hip) were listed as full participants.
Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels is sidelined once again.
After aggravating the same elbow he dislocated earlier this season in his return to action against the Vikings, head coach Dan Quinn announced in his Wednesday press conference that the quarterback has been ruled out for the Week 15 game against the Giants.
That means veteran backup Marcus Mariota is set to start another game.
Quinn noted that Daniels did not suffer structural damage to the elbow.
As for the rest of the season, Quinn noted that the team is not yet talking about shutting Daniels down.
“As far as what decisions are ahead, we haven’t gone down that road,” Quinn said, via JP Finlay of NBC 4 Washington. “He’s working really hard to get back with the guys.”
After winning AP offensive rookie of the year in 2024, Daniels’ 2025 has been marred by injury. He missed a pair of games earlier in the season with a knee injury before missing one game with a hamstring injury. He then came back to play the Week 9 game against Seattle, suffering his dislocated elbow.
That means Daniels has been able to play, at most, three consecutive games this season. He has had to miss time after making each of his last three starts.
In seven games this season, Daniels has completed 60.6 passes for 1,262 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions.
Mariota has completed 62.9 percent of his throws for 1,389 yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2025.
With NFL teams possibly planning to swoop in on South Bend, Notre Dame is scrambling to keep coach Marcus Freeman.
Here’s the reality: Teams with vacancies are permitted to interview him now (if they haven’t already).
Those teams are the Titans and Giants. There’s no requirement for those teams to announce or even to disclose that they have interviewed Freeman.
That’s the rule as it relates to any coach who currently isn’t working for another NFL team. The mad dash to request permission to interview assistant coaches comes after the regular-season ends. Paperwork is filed with the league office, and the official inquiries inevitably, if not immediately, are leaked to reporters who are employed by the league.
For unemployed coaches and/or current college coaches, there’s no external paper trail.
Whether Freeman would be interested in the Titans or the Giants is unknown. Both teams have been dysfunctional in recent years, with revolving doors and chronic struggles. It could be a hard sell to get Freeman interested in either job.
Freeman also can be discreetly contacted by teams that have yet to fire their current head coaches, with no league rules violated. As the end of the 2025 regular season approaches, teams that know they’ll be making a change will be (or should be) trying to identify all potential candidates. Freeman and/or his representation can be contacted without consequence.
Given that Notre Dame has made clear its desire to keep Freeman, he doesn’t have to rush for the first bad opportunity in the NFL. He can wait, if he wants, for a good, stable job to come upon. The Steelers or the Ravens, for example, would be attractive, since both teams have kept their current coaches for 19 and 18 years, respectively.
And what if Andy Reid retires in the next few years? Who wouldn’t want to coach Patrick Mahomes — even if the rest of the roster currently needs plenty of work?
Regardless, the potential pursuit of Freeman isn’t something that must wait until the regular season ends. It can begin right away, and the teams that are talking to him can keep it as quiet as they choose.
The Giants are signing veteran punter Cameron Johnston to their practice squad, Dan Duggan of TheAthletic.com reports.
Johnston, who entered the NFL in 2017, was most recently with the Bills earlier this season.
The Giants’ regular punter, Jamie Gillan, is dealing with an undisclosed injury, per Duggan, which prompted a workout of several veteran punters.
The Wednesday injury report will provide more insight into Gillan’s injury.
Johnston has remained a free agent since the Bills released him from injured reserve on Nov. 13. A lower-leg injury in Week 4 sidelined him.
Johnston began his NFL career as an undrafted free agent, signing with the Eagles. He played three seasons in Philadelphia and was on the Super Bowl LII team.
In 2021, Johnston signed with the Texans and led the league in punting yards (4,108) and total punts (88). He played two more seasons in Houston before joining the Steelers in 2024.
In three games with the Bills this season, Johnston averaged 44.0 yards per punt with a net of 37.9.
There are currently two NFL head coaching vacancies.
But there will surely be several more after the regular season concludes in January.
Could a college coach be on the radar for a team in 2026?
Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua believes his program’s head coach, Marcus Freeman, is on the radar for NFL teams. He has reason to, as Freeman is the current betting favorite to land the Giants’ job.
“Everybody has eyes on Marcus,” Bevacqua said this week, via Adam Rittenberg of ESPN. “College has eyes on Marcus, NFL has eyes on Marcus. I bet Hollywood has eyes on Marcus.
“He’s the absolute best coach in the country for Notre Dame, full stop, one of the greatest college coaches in the country.”
Freeman, 39, has been Notre Dame’s head coach since Brian Kelly departed the program for LSU late in 2021. He had just been hired earlier in the year as the team’s defensive coordinator/linebackers coach after spending 2017-2020 as Cincinnati’s defensive coordinator/linebackers coach.
He’s accumulated a 43-12 record with the program, coaching the Fighting Irish to the CFP National Championship Game to cap the 2024 season. Notre Dame lost to Freeman’s Alma Mater, Ohio State, where he’d played linebacker from 2004-2008.
While Freeman has never coached at the NFL level, he briefly spent time with the Bears, Bills, and Texans before retiring due to a medical condition.
But with NFL teams potentially circling South Bend, Bevacqua wants to ensure Freeman doesn’t feel tempted to leave the job he has by making sure the coach feels valued.
“I can say with 100 percent certainty he feels that way, and Notre Dame is totally aligned around the importance of college football for Notre Dame,” Bevacqua said. “I make sure that he knows that he will be where he deserves to be, and that is at the top, top, top tier of college football coaches when it comes to compensation every year.”
We’ll see if there’s more smoke around Freeman as a potential candidate when the NFL’s regular season ends in January.
The Giants are opening the 21-day practice window for a pair of defensive players as they return from injured reserve.
New York has designated linebacker Darius Muasau and cornerback Art Green for return, interim head coach Mike Kafka told reporters in his Tuesday press conference.
Muasau, a sixth-round pick in 2024, has been sidelined by an ankle injury. He has appeared in eight games with seven starts so far in 2025, recording 32 total tackles with one sack.
Green has also appeared in eight games for the Giants in 2025, playing exclusively on special teams. He has recorded six total tackles this season.
Giants tight end Theo Johnson’s reaction to Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss’ legal hit on Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart landed him a penalty last Monday night and it also landed him more discipline from the league.
Johnson has been fined for $6,488 for his reaction to Elliss hitting Dart in bounds at the end of a run. Elliss was not fined for the hit or for one that dislodged a piece of punt returner Gunner Olszewski’s helmet later in the game.
While Elliss wasn’t fined, Patriots defensive back Jaylinn Hawkins did earn one. He was fined $9,944 for a hit on Johnson when he was deemed a defenseless player. Hawkins was also penalized during the game.
Giants cornerback Dru Phillips was also fined by the league for the same infraction. He was docked $7,292 for a play that went unflagged in the game.
The Giants fired assistant defensive line coach Bryan Cox, Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reports.
Cox’s bio is no longer on the team’s website.
Defensive line coach Andre Patterson is still on staff.
Cox joined the team’s staff in 2022 after three seasons as the Falcons defensive line coach.
He has also coached for the Bucs (2012-13), Dolphins (2011), Browns (2009-10) and Jets (2006-08).
Cox played in the NFL for 12 seasons before his second career as a coach.
Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson are teammates. On Sunday, they’ll be working as mutual enemies.
Winston will appear on the Fox pregame shows. Wilson will spend the day with CBS.
Neither is playing that day, since the Giants are off. Neither would be playing that day, if the Giants were on. (Unless, of course, starter Jaxson Dart had gotten injured. Which is a more than hypothetical possibility, given his style of play.)
For Winston, the No. 2 quarterback with the Giants, it’s a renewal of his star turn with Fox during Super Bowl week in New Orleans. For Wilson, the No. 3 quarterback, the invitation comes six days after the first healthy scratch of his 13-year career.
If both are angling for a post-career broadcasting job, Wilson likely will get a head start. Chances are that, unless he’s willing to receive the minimum or close to it and to hold a proverbial clipboard far more often than not, there won’t be a roster spot in 2026. Winston, in contrast, remains a viable option — and could eventually be traded to a team that wants a veteran starter, with possibilities including the Vikings.
At Fox, our guess is that they’ll have Winston do a raucous and entertaining pregame speech for the on-air crew at the outset of the show. At CBS, maybe they’ll have Wilson come up with a two-word slogan.
Or maybe four.
“Let’s murder . . . she wrote.”
