Joe Judge firing rumors intensify after ugly season finale

The New York Giants appeared poised to retain head coach Joe Judge as recently as two weeks ago, but an ugly end to the season may have eroded his job security.

Multiple reporters suggested Sunday that Judge’s job is not safe, and that the Giants may still make a change. While there were no reports suggesting that Judge was a certainty to be fired, there did not appear to be any strong belief that Judge was safe, as was reported two weeks ago.

Giants players are “split at best” on Judge as head coach, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Jay Glazer of FOX Sports went further, saying he would put the chance of Judge returning at 25 percent after having it at 50 percent prior to Sunday’s loss. Glazer added that he had heard from many in the locker room that wanted to see a change.

Jay Glazor says it’s 25% that Joe Judge stays as Head Coach and people in the locker room would like to move on pic.twitter.com/Lnqt4klTI8

— Talkin’ Giants (@TalkinGiants) January 10, 2022

It’s safe to say Judge has not helped himself in the last two weeks. He unleashed a somewhat bizarre rant after a Week 17 loss to Chicago defending his tenure. That speech included what appeared to be a shot at the Washington Football Team, though Judge later denied that. The denial didn’t matter much when Judge’s Giants lost the season finale 22-7 to the Washington team he had seemingly mocked, and the nature of the defeat was even worse.

Few Giants fans want to see Judge return, and despite the coach’s best efforts to argue otherwise, it’s hard to see any progress from the team under his leadership. Between his conduct with the media and the play on the field, Judge may have talked himself out of a job.

Photo: Jan 9, 2020; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Introductory press conference of New York Giants new head coach Joe Judge at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports