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 Monday, November 22
Giants switch to Collins as starting QB
 
SportsTicker

 EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It happened later than expected, but Kerry Collins is officially the starting quarterback of the New York Giants.

 
Kerry Collins
Quarterback
New York Giants
Profile
 
 
1999 SEASON STATISTICS
COMP ATT YDS TD INT RAT
46 78 553 0 3 64.7

In an attempt to shake up a sluggish offense, Giants coach Jim Fassel benched quarterback Kent Graham on Monday and handed the reins to Collins.

"This is not an experiment. Kerry is the starter," Fassel said at Monday's media briefing.

The Giants (5-5) will host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Collins replaced an injured Graham and led the Giants to their only two sustained scoring drives in a 23-13 loss to the Washington Redskins. The loss dropped the Giants one game behind the first-place Redskins in the NFC East.

Graham suffered a concussion in the second quarter game after he was hit by Redskins defensive end Marco Coleman. Before the injury, Graham completed just three of 10 passes for 36 yards with two interceptions.

Collins stepped in and engineered a pair of 71-yard scoring drives, but he also fumbled the ball away twice and was intercepted once. Overall, he completed 13 of 21 passes for 221 yards.

When Collins signed a four-year, $16.9 million contract with the Giants in February, it was believed he would quickly move ahead of Graham. But Graham retained his job in training camp and started the first four games before suffering a concussion in an Oct. 3 game against Philadelphia.

Collins started his first game the following week, but failed to get the Giants in the end zone in a 14-3 loss at Arizona on Oct. 10.

Graham returned as the starter the following week and led the Giants to three straight wins before a 27-19 loss to Indianapolis on Nov. 14.

Collins, 27, has completed 46 of 78 passes (59 percent) for 553 yards and no touchdowns with three interceptions in four games this season.

Graham, 29, who is the final year of a two-year, $3 million contract, is 160-for-271 (59 percent) for 1,697 yards and nine touchdowns with nine interceptions.

 


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