ARLINGTON, Texas — David Wilson might go on to have a very good pro career and perhaps be remembered as one of the best ever to wear a Giants uniform. Then again, he might not get the chance to reach that level of achievement if he doesn’t learn how to hold on to the football.
All during training camp, the question was whether Wilson’s pass blocking had improved enough for the Giants to trust him to be an every down back. An inability to hang on to the football wasn’t believed to be a lingering problem. Clearly, it is.
Two lost fumbles by Wilson proved costly in the Giants’ 36-31 season-opening loss to the Cowboys Sunday night at AT&T Stadium. Wilson’s first fumble ruined a potential scoring drive when he was stripped of the ball on a first down play at the Cowboys’ 8-yard line in the first quarter.
His second fumble came on the Giants’ first series of the third quarter, when he was again stripped of the ball. Dallas safety Barry Church picked it up and ran 27 yards for a touchdown that gave the Cowboys a 20-10 lead. Wilson was then benched and didn’t play the rest of the game.
“They’re not going to play unless they can hang on to the ball,” an angry coach Tom Coughlin said after the game. “It’s demoralizing to the whole team.”
Losing for the first time in five games in Jerry Jones’ billion-dollar building was not the way the Giants wanted to start their 2013 season. And it certainly wasn’t what the Giants expected from Wilson, the second-year player from Virginia Tech, whose two fumbles cost the Giants 14 points.
“It was a tough situation to be in,” said Wilson, who finished with seven carries for 19 yards. “God never gives you more than you can handle. Everything happened for a reason. He can bring me through it. I just have to keep working hard. I’m at the bottom now. There’s nowhere to go but up.”
Wilson took residency in Coughlin’s doghouse last year for losing the football in his opening game as a rookie. But the Giants had Andre Brown and Ahmad Bradshaw to turn to while Wilson learned the importance of ball security. But this year Bradshaw is in Indianapolis and Brown is sidelined with a fractured leg.
Wilson actually got a reprieve after his first fumble Sunday night. Eli Manning called his number the first time the Giants got the ball back and Wilson seemed to have learned his lesson. But after his second fumble, he was benched by Coughlin in favor of little used Da’Rel Scott, who played the remainder of the game.
Scott, who came into the game with 25 career rushing yards in two seasons, had five carries for 23 yards Sunday night. He didn’t fumble, but a fourth-quarter pass from Manning bounced off his hands and into the arms of cornerback Brandon Carr, who returned it 49 yards for the Cowboys’ game-winning points.
Coughlin said he was “embarrassed” by the six turnovers the Giants committed and made no guarantees Wilson would start next week against the Broncos. Wilson can expect some tough love from his teammates.
“This is how you define yourself,” cornerback Terrell Thomas said. “It’s about your character and who you are as a person. Are you going to tuck your tail or are you going to stand up like a man and say, ‘I’ve got to do a better job taking care of the ball’? Work at it in practice and come back and be the first-rounder we know he can be.”
Wilson didn’t have an impact for much of last season because of his early fumbles, for which Coughlin has little patience. That’s why with 2:00 left in the game and the Giants looking for a go-ahead touchdown, Wilson was on the bench. He’ll likely remain there until he can prove he can hold on to the football.