EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Frustrated with the fumbles and turnovers, Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Brandon Jacobs will start ahead of Ahmad Bradshaw against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
Bradshaw lost his fifth fumble of the season in Sunday night's loss to the Eagles as the Giants turned the ball over five times. The Giants lead the NFL with 30 turnovers.
"We are going to have Brandon start this week but as I said the other day, there are plenty of carries to go around," Coughlin said. "The number one consideration is to try and stop beating yourself. It is very frustrating."
When asked if Jacobs will remain the starter, Coughlin replied, "We are going to play this game. We'll see how we do this week."
Jacobs said he has not been told how many carries he will receive or how long his new role will last. But he believes the move is not permanent and that Bradshaw will regain his starting job.
"It's temporary," said Jacobs, who has rushed for 387 yards and five touchdowns this season. "Even [if] I am going to rush for 200 yards in each of these games, it is temporary because he is that much of an explosive runner and I want to see him in there myself. I want to see him in there and do well."
"I [will] keep doing the best I can to help this team win," added Jacobs, who is best friends with Bradshaw. "I don't know what the reason is for this whole thing or what they are trying to prove. I know he is going to still be a big part of us winning and if we want to win we'll give him the ball."
Bradshaw, who is fifth in the NFL in rushing with 867 yards and five touchdowns, said he hasn't been told much.
"They said a change has been made and I'm doing whatever is good for the team," Bradshaw said. "I'm not the starter. I can just play my game off of that."
"My fumbles happen on the extra effort," Bradshaw added. "All I can do is play my game and it all comes natural."
Coughlin hopes to find a quick solution to the turnover epidemic that has plagued his team all season. When asked on Sunday night what else he could do to fix the turnovers after harping on it all season, Coughlin said he didn't know.
Now he has made a lineup change by re-inserting Jacobs back in the starting lineup. Jacobs was the starter last season until Coughlin opted to go with Bradshaw this season. The emotional Jacobs had trouble with his new role early in the season and had to have a meeting with the head coach.
After struggling in his new role the first three weeks, Jacobs scored at least one touchdown in four straight games. He also had back-to-back games of 75 and 78 yards rushing against the Cowboys and Seahawks.
Jacobs has averaged 7.8 carries a game while Bradshaw has seen 18.5 carries a game this season as the starter. Even though the Giants said they were considering using a three-back rotation in the preseason, D.J. Ware has only played in two games this season.
Jacobs is now in line for more work. And it remains to be seen how Coughlin will use his running backs.
"It's basically been almost like a two-to-one deal," Coughlin said of the workload for his running backs. "Both guys have had lots of carries. That type of thing. What we are going to do now is we are going to try to get Danny Ware some work as well."
Coughlin has repeatedly praised Bradshaw this season for running with extra effort. But Bradshaw has lost some of his fumbles trying to gain extra yards. Coughlin said the competitive Bradshaw was upset with the demotion.
"He's not happy," Coughlin said. "But he's going to fight his way through it. Why it would be a total surprise to anybody is beyond me."
With their top wide receivers out due to injuries, the Giants may have to rely more on their running game. Hakeem Nicks is out for at least three weeks after undergoing a fasciotomy to relieve swelling in his leg suffered from a hit during the 27-17 loss to the Eagles.
Coughlin said Nicks' procedure went well and the Giants still hope to have him back in three weeks after his incision heals.
"The situation was well-handled and he's optimistic about a speedy recovery," Coughlin said.
Now the head coach is looking for a quick fix for his team's turnover problem and something to spark a rushing attack that got only 39 combined yards from Bradshaw and Jacobs against the Eagles.
"We are trying to get our running game back to where we want it to be," Coughlin said. "We'd like to have Ahmad evaluate the whole situation and obviously improve in that area and work on that. Hopefully there is something we can do to continue to resolve that issue."
