New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh is pleased with the way his team began the 2026 regular season -- a 28-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.
It wasn't a perfect game, however. The Giants fumbled four times and lost one. The three the Giants recovered could have been costly, but they weren't. The fourth fumble did, killing a scoring drive on the Dallas 16-yard line.
BALL'S OUT! 🗣️
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) September 14, 2026
The Cowboys recover a Giants fumble and it's going the other way!
📺 Cowboys at Giants on NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/F6Iux9297A
On Monday, Harbaugh addressed the fumbling issue, and it goes without saying that he and his staff will be drilling the players on protecting the football this week.
"One of the things that is non-negotiable
is ball security," he told reporters via a Zoom call. "We're putting the ball on the ground entirely too much. It's got to change. We've got to make the change on that. Every single ball carrier has got to make sure that it gets better, and it's up to us as coaches. We've got to drill it. We've got to teach it. We've got to make sure that we do it better because the ball's on the ground four times, and that's just not even close to being acceptable."
Running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. was the one who lost the fumble in the red zone. It was his second big fumble this summer, the first one coming in the preseason. Harbaugh embraced him after the game, but where his confidence in Tracy stands at the moment is unknown.
John Harbaugh gets his first win as @Giants head coach 💙 pic.twitter.com/Z3vQjD33JJ
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2026
Other fumbles were committed by running back Cam Skattebo, who recovered his own, and quarterback Jaxson Dart, who lost the ball on a QB hit. That landed in the arms of left guard Jon Runyan Jr. Tight end Isaiah Likely's fumble was recovered by fullback Patrick Ricard.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants' John Harbaugh on Week 1 fumbles: Ball security is 'non-negotiable'
