New York Giants Week 6 Storylines: Injuries, the O-Line, and More
Another week, another primetime game on deck for the New York Giants.
The good news is that the rough part of the Giants schedule appears to be coming to an end this weekend when they put their fourth primetime game (out of five scheduled) in the books. They'll face a Buffalo Bills team that lost its London game last week and will likely view the Giants as a "get-right" game.
But the Giants desperately need a "get right" game of their own. And it just so happens that the Bills are a team that head coach Brian Daboll has a high degree of familiarity, having served as their offensive coordinator before coming to the Giants last year.
Can Daboll take advantage of any insider knowledge he gained working with Bills quarterback Josh Allen and the others remaining from his time in the Queen City? And will there be any special emotions for him returning to his last place of employment before showing up in East Rutherford in his blue pickup truck?
"Look, it's the next game," Daboll said, downplaying any excitement or emotions he might have. "Been in this league a long time, played against a lot of different teams that I've worked for or players that I've coached.
"Tremendous amount of respect for the Buffalo Bills organization, (Bills Owner/CEO/President) Terry Pegula, (Bills General Manager) Brandon Beane, (Bills Head Coach) Sean McDermott--all their coaches and players. But our focus is always on us, first and foremost, getting ready to play a game. They're a really good team. So, we'll have our work cut out for us.
Daboll's return to Buffalo is why this game has such a national appeal and is just one of several storylines to unfold ahead of the game. Here are a few others.
The Offensive Line
The Giants are almost certain to trot out a sixth different starting combination on Sunday night if left tackle Andrew Thomas isn't ready to go (and early indications are he might not be).
New York, realizing that its gamble on its young offensive line talent isn't working out, was on the verge of signing veteran Yodny Cajuste to the practice squad pending the outcome of his physical, and they were set to work out La'El Collins as well assuming the Jets don't sign him first.
They also have Justin Pugh on the practice squad. So it's a pretty safe bet that there will be at least one new face on the offensive line and at left tackle if Andrew Thomas isn't ready to go again. It's just a question of who's deemed the most ready to step in.
Daboll, as has been his way, didn't offer much insight into what he might be thinking of doing, but something has got to change with this unit, and fast.
Dinged Danny
Quarterback Daniel Jones is telling anyone who asks that the neck issue he suffered in Sudnay's beatdown by Miami isn't like what ended his season in 2021 and that he is planning on playing.
The Giants' medical staff might have something to say about that. Jones, you see, has a habit of downplaying how badly he's hurt--does anyone remember how he ended up playing against the Arizona Cardinals a few years ago despite having a bad hamstring that made him a sitting duck and how he took such a beating int hat game he ended up missing more time with an ankle injury?
"He said he’s feeling probably better than maybe he thought he’d feel," Daboll said Monday before admitting that all the test results hadn't come back. "I’m just going to hold off until I get an update and go through that, but I'm optimistic after talking to him."
Jones's toughness is admirable. But we're talking about a neck issue, which is not something to play around with, especially behind two different offensive line combinations that have allowed 16 sacks on Jones over the last two weeks alone and which, by the way, will be facing the league's sack leader (21) this weekend.
Does Saquon Return?
Running back Saquon Barkley was initially projected to miss three weeks with a high ankle sprain for which he has yet to be spotted wearing a boot or using crutches, a good sign suggesting that his injury isn't that bad.
When it comes to Barkley, the Giants tend to be cautious with him because if there is any chance of him worsening his injury, they'll err on the side of caution.
With three weeks having gone by, will Barkley finally get the green light to return this weekend? At the bare minimum, figure he'll see some more reps in team drills leading up to his eventually taking a full workload. And so long as there are no setbacks and no danger to his making his injury worse, his return could be coming sooner than later.
Who's Else Is In/Out?
Center John Michael Schmitz (shoulder) and inside linebacker Micah McFadden (ankle) missed last week's game with injuries. Will outside linebacker Azeez Ojlari, who missed time earlier this year with a hamstring issue and now has an ankle issue, be sidelined?
What about reserve offensive lineman Shane Lemieux (groin)? Will right guard Marcus McKethan (knee) have to miss any time? And what other injury surprises will pop up on the injury report?
Can The Team Hold It Together?
So far, the Giants locker room hasn't shown any sign of splintering, but it's certainly fair to wonder if these embarrassing beatings continue if the players will, at some point, start to tune out.
Daboll doesn't seem like the type of coach who will put up with guys who decide to start making business decisions, but let's face it: getting this team out of the hole it's dug for itself isn't going to be easy.
But Daboll has hope and a plan to do so.
"You know you’re going to go through some adversity. When that is, you never know, but you are consistent with your approach," he said.
And that approach, which is the same as last year, has been to look at what went right and build on that and then look at what went wrong and correct it.
Simple right? It sounds that way, but the problem is the Giants have had so much go wrong that it's fair to wonder if there are enough hours in a day to correct everything. But if they want to salvage what's left of their season, they better figure it out quickly.
Keep it here on Giants Country as we follow these and other emerging storylines ahead of Week 6's game against Buffalo.
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