New York Giants Preseason Game 1: Thoughts and Observations

Some leftover thoughts and observations from the Giants' 12-7 loss to the Jets Saturday night.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Aug 15, 2021 10:13 AM EDT

Please repeat after me...

"The result doesn't count in the standings!"

It's true--would I lie to you? But with that said, while there were some positive moments to come of the New York Giants' 12-7 preseason loss to the New York Jets, the biggest takeaway was how outmatched many of the Giants' reserves looked against the Jets reserves.

Why is this concerning? Because if there are injuries to the starters--and you know there will be--you want to be assured that there won't be too great of a dropoff in production by the backups.

Can we say that was the case with the Giants' reserves last night?

I can't, at least not for most of them. But it's still early enough in the preseason with a lot of training camp left, some being somewhat optimistic that there will be some sort of improvement, well let's just hope I'm right.

Some additional thoughts and takeaways.

1. Offensive Line Woes Mount

It was not the best of nights for either the starting offensive line or the backups.

The starting unit gave up a pair of pressures on the opening drive, a three-and-out. The pressures came through left guard Kenny Wiggins, filling in for Shane Lemieux (knee), and right tackle Matt Peart. In particular, Wiggins, who also worked with the second-team offensive line, had a tough night between missing a couple of blocks and allowing a pressure.

If that's not enough to increase the volume on the alarm bells, promising second-year man Kyle Murphy, who stepped in at left guard with the second-string offensive line, left the game late in the second half with a left ankle injury.

Yikes!

2. More on the Offensive Line

Head coach Joe Judge noted some good and some bad in the offensive line's showing.

"Obviously, some of the sacks and pressures on third-and-long situations -- you don't want to end any game with a safety, I mean that's something you don't want to do."

On 23 passing attempts, the Giants allowed 16 quarterback pressures--that's pressure on 69.5% of all the passing attempts, for those keeping score at home.

But there is some good news to come of this. Projected starters Andrew Thomas, Will Hernandez, and Nick Gates, each of whom had 11 pass-block snaps, all pitched shutouts.

"I thought as a unit, the communication improved as we went on there. I thought some of the adjustments they were able to make on the sideline with (Offensive Line Coach) Rob (Sale) and those guys, in terms of handling what they were given, was positive. But ultimately we have to be fundamentally sound and play more consistent."

No arguments there, coach.

3. Oh, Corey!

Running back, Corey Clement has had himself a strong training camp, at times looking better than Devontae Booker. True to form, Clement started his stint with a pair of solid runs.

But when it came to his most extensive run of the night, a red-zone run, Clement, who has one fumble per 27.1 regular-season carries, lost the handle on the ball after taking a pop at the Jets' seven-yard line to end a potential Giants' scoring drive.

Saquon Barkley can't return to full-time action fast enough.

MORE: New York Giants Drop Preseason Opener to Jets, 12-7

4. The "Why?" Moment

I agree with the strategy of trying to draw the opponent offside on a fourth-and-short. That said, what's the point of wasting time doing it in the preseason?

The Giants tried this at least once last night, and it was unsuccessful. Maybe it's just me, but given the inconsistent play of the gunners last year, I much would have preferred to see the gunners get their opportunity to show what they can do and not waste time trying to draw the other team offside.

5. Why Kadarius Toney Didn't Play

Receiver Kadarius Toney's summer continues to be, shall we say, interesting.

Toney, the team's first-round draft pick, began training camp on the reserve/COVID-19 list. When he was cleared, his workload was slowly ramped up each day, but the coaches rolled back Toney's workloadlast week.

He didn't see any work during the FanFest practice, and he didn't participate in the first preseason game.

According to Judge, it turns out that Toney aggravated an injury he had been dealing with this week, who refused to say what the injury was.

"He's been dealing with it for a little bit," Judge said. "Something was aggravated in practice towards the tail end of this week, so he was unable to play tonight."

While Judge is hopeful that Toney will be able to practice this week, the time he's been missing this summer is starting to add up, making one wonder just how much the Giants might be able to get from Toney this year.

MORE: Risers and Fallers from New York Giants' 2021 Preseason Opening Loss

6. Giants Can't Avoid Injuries

Tight end Cole Hikutini, who has quietly been making a push for a roster spot with a solid summer showing, left the game late in the third quarter with a hip injury. And reserve offensive lineman Kyle Murphy left the game with an ankle injury, the severity of which is unknown at this point.

These might not look like it right now, but those are two injuries the Giants couldn't afford to have. The offensive line depth is paper-thin as it is, and Wiggins is a guy who, despite his shaky play, was likely destined for a roster spot as a reserve. Hikutini, meanwhile, was also likely headed for a roster spot as the fourth tight end after quietly mounting a solid camp.

Also banged up in the game was inside linebacker T.J. Brunson (unknown). Brunson, who is fighting to hold onto his roster spot, came come up with a big hit in the game which forced a fumble,

7. Play of the Game

There were a few highlight-worthy plays in this game--running back Sandro Platzgummer's 48-yard run, which was the longest play on offense by the Giants; David Sills's 37-yard reception; and Damion Willis' 21-touchdown reception all come to mind.

But if I have to pick one under-the-radar play that made me go "Wow!" it would be rookie edge rusher Azeez Ojulari's shedding of Jets tackle Mekhi Becton, who outweighs him by over 100 pounds, to make a tackle off the edge.

Sure, it was a blink, and you'll miss it type of play that doesn't show up the way it should in the gamebook, but it was a sight to behold.

8. Offense's Struggles

Remember all those areas where the Giants struggled on offense last year? Well, based on the numbers, the Giants seemed to pick up where they left off.

Before I go any further, I'm aware that the bulk of the starters didn't play. And the odds of the Giants ever having to field that many backups are slim.

That said, the competition was still kind of even for most of the game, meaning the Giants backups went against the Jets backups, so to sit here and say the Giants backups held their own isn't accurate.

But ideally, you'd to see guys hold their own individually, which usually leads to decent numbers of a group, and I don't think you can say that was the case last night.

The Giants were 2-of-10 on third-down conversions. The Giants offense only held the ball for 20:11 the entire game, and six of their 11 drives were three plays or less (one of those drives coming on the safety when Clayton Thorson was sacked for a safety on the first play of the final drive of the game).

The offense only made it into the red zone twice all evening and was one of two in converting and zero of one on goal-to-goal.

9. Thoughts on David Sills V

I'm thrilled that David Sils is getting an opportunity to put his skills on display for the league. But based on last night's showing, I'm not so sure he's a slam-dunk lock for a roster spot.

For starters, he didn't play a single snap on special teams, and as I've noted before, players at the bottom of the depth chart who don't play on special teams are going to have a hard time sticking on a roster let alone getting into a game.

He only played one snap in the slot, reaffirming my suspicion that he's primarily an outside receiver, where the Giants have Kenny Golladay and Darius Slayton ahead of him on the depth chart.

Now let's take a closer look at Sills's production from Week 1. He caught three of five pass targets for 49 yards, which led the Giants receivers. However, 37 of those yards came on one reception, and, per Pro Football Focus, Sills was 0-for-2 on contested catches in the game.

Sills did produce two first downs for the Giants (hard not to if your average depth of target is 13.2 yards), and he had the second-best NFL Rating (92.9) among the Giants receivers, which are positives.

That all being said, I don't necessarily agree with the notion that Sills should be a lock for a roster spot. But the good news is there is still plenty of camp for things to change, and Sills has the right frame of mind moving forward.

"Taking it one day at a time, not trying to look into what's going on with the roster spots or how that plays out. Just trying to go out there and do my best every day," he said.

"Coach Judge and (Offensive Coordinator) Coach (Jason) Garrett do a great job of talking about just controlling what you can control and not really worrying about all the other stuff. So that's kind of my mindset every day and to take it in one practice at a time, not looking down the road, just taking it one day at a time."