Why is James Jones not a New York Giant?

There is no use crying over spilt milk, as the saying goes. Thus, there is really no use wasting any more time complaining about the Giants' 27-26 loss to the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday. By extension, continuing to complain about the Giants' decision to keep Preston Parker as a reserve wide receiver rather than the more accomplished James Jones doesn't do much good.

That said, it still doesn't mean we can't be curious why the Giants made that move. Jones, of course, starred Sunday after landing back home with the Green Bay Packers, while Parker dropped three critical passes that cost the Giants first downs, and probably points, on Sunday.

Jones offered his perspective on why the Giants let him go, telling Jenny Vrentas of SI.com that the Giants let him go "out of respect for me."

" ... in New York, I was just behind from Day 1. By that I mean, they already had the guys they wanted. You've got Rueben Randle, who came off a great year last year, he's a draft pick, and you've obviously got Victor Cruz and Odell Beckham, Jr. So I felt like they already had their top three," Jones said. "From talking to [Tom] Coughlin, he was telling me I had a great camp, and I was one of the best receivers out there--I led the whole team in preseason--but these other guys they are going to go with. And I understood that. And to be honest with you, I told Coach Coughlin that I didn't want to be one of those guys who dressed one week, didn't dress another week, especially me going on nine years in the NFL. I wanted to have the opportunity to go somewhere and play and be a part of an offense.

"They already had the guys they wanted, so I think it was just out of respect for me to let me go, because I really wasn't going to be a big part of the offense, because they already had their top three guys they wanted, whether I outplayed them or not."

One of the reasons the Giants kept Parker over Jones, certainly, had to do with special teams. Parker can play on all of the Giants' special teams, and can return punts and kickoffs if needed. A nine-year veteran, Jones doesn't play special teams and we know that is something the Giants expect of their role players.

With that said, the Giants gave Parker the first opportunity to replace the ailing Victor Cruz in the slot. He obviously had an awful game, opening the door for Dwayne Harris to get some opportunities.

"Well, we certainly want to see the ball caught and not dropped," Coughlin said. "We'll see how practice goes this week. Dwayne Harris will get more opportunities, but we'll see."

Harris signed a five-year, $17.5 million ($7.1 million guaranteed) contract with the Giants during the offseason with the expectation that he would get more of a chance on offense than he had in Dallas. There remains no guarantee, though, that Harris will supplant Parker despite Sunday's struggles.

"Preston, he had a tough day. We count on him bouncing back. He's a tough guy, he's a fighter, he's a competitor and he's a pro," offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo said. "I think Preston has some grit. He'll go in there and put his face on people if he has to, he's got his teammates' backs, he plays at a good speed. We just need a little more productivity out of him this week and we trust that he'll bring it."

The Giants, who make no bones about needing some bigger plays in the passing game, hope McAdoo is right.