Transaction | Giants Sign WR Austin Mack, Waive Damion Ratley
The Giants made a change at wide receiver Tuesday, signing Austin Mack from the practice squad and waiving Damion Ratley.
Mack, 6-2 and 215 pounds, was signed by the Giants as an undrafted rookie free agent on April 29 out of Ohio State.
He was signed to the Giants practice squad after training camp, where he remained until October 3, when he was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster for the Giants game against the Rams.
However, he was not active for that game and was then returned to the practice squad the following day.
Mack recorded 79 receptions for 1,050 yards and six touchdowns in 45 games for the Buckeyes.
Ratley was claimed off waivers on September 6. He finishes with four catches (out of eight pass targets) for 63 yards, having run 94 snaps on offense.
He was also the guilty party called for offensive pass interference last week, a penalty that negated Darius Slayton's touchdown reception.
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The Giants hope to get Sterling Shepard, who has been on injured reserve with a turf toe since Week 3, back in the next week or two. Head coach Joe Judge said Monday that the veteran receiver has made "a lot of progress" every week, and indicated that Shepard could receive the IR return designation this week.
"We’ll get him moving around a little bit this week with the trainers early on and see where that’s going to lead as far as him going into practice," Judge said.
Shepard would appear to be a long shot to be ready for Sunday's game against Washington but is believed to have a better chance at being ready for the Giants Thursday night game at Philadelphia.
The thinking is the team doesn't want to have him play two games in such a turnaround, and would rather he take a few extra days to get himself back into football shape than to risk a potential setback by rushing to get on the field by Sunday.
