Darren Waller Explains His Hamstring Issue
New York Giants tight end Darren Waller clarified the hamstring issue that popped up last week and landed him on the team's Week 1 injury report with a questionable designation.
“I mean, I feel like it’s more like a compression in that area,” Waller said on Thursday. “So, it’s just opening up the areas around it, but yeah, not like a hamstring strain you think of normally.”
Still, the idea of their star tight end having a hamstring issue after such an injury cut short his 2022 season with the Raiders was enough to scare the Giants to where they're not taking precautions regarding pacing his workload.
Head coach Brian Daboll told reporters that Waller would be one of a handful of 30+-year-old veterans who would get a weekly "veteran's" day of rest, Waller's coming on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, the tight end's reps were limited to help keep him from overdoing it.
“Sometimes it’s in that area like maybe some scarring can get built up, and that area can become just kind of like a lot going on in that area, it can compress the nerve a little bit, so you can feel a pinch a little bit, so it’s just a matter of getting that stuff out of there," Waller explained.
Thanks to the treatment he received, Waller could be on the field for the Giants in Week 1. He hopes that will also be the case for the next 16 games. But as to how much his ailment affected him, Waller, who played just 13 snaps, finished his debut outing with three receptions on five targets for 36 yards, one of which accounted for 22 of his total yards on the night.
“I can run at practice, I can run routes and do it for two hours, so I’m like, yeah, I feel great," he said.
"I feel like I was creating separation on a lot of different occasions, so just to try and carry that over to this week in practice and into the next week because, at the end of the day, making yourself available to the quarterback is what I can do and what I can control, and I want to keep controlling that,” he said.
As the tight end and his teammates move forward in looking to bounce back from last week's debacle against Dallas, Waller said it's important for the Giants not to let the sour taste of the 40-0 shutout against the Cowboys linger as they get ready for the Arizona Cardinals.
“I feel like this is a team with a short memory," he said. "Sometimes you’ve got to have in this league because things aren’t always going to go the way you want them to.
“This past game was very unfortunate as far as the results are concerned, but at the end of the day, it’s not the start we would’ve imagined, but we still have plenty of more opportunities, and I feel like guys took that into account and practiced with a lot of energy this week.”
Once the Giants hit the field on Sunday looking for a win against the Cardinals, the tight end with immense upside knows the chance is there to turn the details into offensive impact. One game will not define the success or failure of the others, but in reality, Waller will look back to what he said the week before about “setting the standard” and being available for opportunities that come his way.
“I feel like for me, I can control it starting with leadership, starting with encouraging guys, empowering guys to move on and be excited about the opportunity this week," Waller said.
"Also, like I said, just continuing to get open, create separation, make myself available to DJ (quarterback Daniel Jones) whenever opportunities present themselves, and just go from there.”
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