New York Giants Notebook | Mayo, McKinney to IR, Corner Concerns, and Other Notables
New York Giants head coach Joe Judge got his first significant taste of the ugly side of his job this weekend.
Judge, who, despite running a physically demanding training camp, also allowed for some fun such as the slip-and-slide ball recovery drill held at the end of training camp, had to say goodbye to over a dozen players.
“This is not a fun part of the business. This is a very tough time of the year for every player and every coach,” Judge told reporters Sunday during a video conference call.
“There are guys in the locker room who are seeing teammates walk out the door. There are coaches who invested a whole lot personally in players to develop them. The reality in this league is you can’t keep everybody, and that’s just the nature of the business. It’s not an easy few days. They’re not easy conversations.”
As almost to prove his point, Judge was about ten minutes late for the 3:30 pm call with reporters because he had been conversing with a player, and he didn’t want to rush that conversation through.
“You want to make sure you give every player the direct truth on why the move was made, what we think they can work on going forward to get themselves the best chance, and really open it up for any questions the players may have so that you can always give them all the information necessary for them to improve in their craft,” Judge said.
The Giants plan to keep all the players they had to let go of that didn’t land with another club on speed dial just in case they have an opening down the line. While Judge was remorse that he couldn’t keep every player, he did express his appreciation to everyone who made his first training camp as an NFL head coach a productive one.
“Everybody we’ve had in at training camp did a tremendous job, showed a lot of urgency and effort. We really appreciate and respect every player that came through here,” he said. “We have a lot of respect for the guys who went through our program. Obviously, they know our system.
“In any year, let alone a year like this year, we’re going to have to make sure that we have guys in the fold that we know, we trust, and that know our system and would be able to carry on in a short time period going forward.”
The next step for Judge and the Giants is to transition into the regular-season mode. He’ll have the players work for about 90 minutes Monday after giving them a long three-day weekend.
“We have to change the way we think and the way we prepare from preseason now into the regular season where we have a defined opponent to work against,” Judge said.
“The playbook is not a general overview of install; it’s specific towards an opponent and how we are going to play next Monday (against the Steelers).
It’s possible that the roster could undergo a few more tweaks between now and kickoff.
“All the players that we kept on our 53 and our practice squad are guys that we think give us versatility and have the ability to develop and keep shaping this roster in a positive way,” he said.
“Everyone in here is in it together, the coaches, players and personnel. We’re pleased with the players we have. We’re always looking to sharpen and develop. There’s natural attrition throughout the year so we have to be aware of everyone else who is involved in the league on transaction moves.”
Mayo, McKinney Placed on Injured Reserve
As expected, the Giants moved inside linebacker David Mayo and safety Xavier McKinney to the injured reserve list Sunday. These two moves cleared the way for the signing of cornerback Brandon Williams and tight end Eric Tomlinson, who were with the team during the summer.
Mayo underwent knee surgery last week for a torn meniscus in his knee and could miss 4-6 weeks. McKinney suffered a broken fifth metatarsal in his foot that also required surgery. He could miss up to 12 weeks.
The NFL has changed the rules for injured reserve this year to allow for players to return from injured reserve after just a three-week absence. Also, teams can return an unlimited number of players from the injured reserve list this year instead of the three that was initially agreed to in the most recent CBA ratified by the NFLPA and NFL Management Council back in March.
Corner Concerns
Although the Giants added James Bradberry in the off-season and, more recently, Logan Ryan, the Giants cornerback group is still a relatively young and inexperienced crop that also consists of rookie Darnay Holmes, second-year man Corey Ballentine, and newcomer Isaac Yiadom, acquired in a trade with Denver for a seventh-round pick last week.
Given what they have at the position, will that be enough to be competitive?
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Judge said. “I can’t answer that right now, but we’re definitely going to give them all the information we can to make sure we put them in a position to play to their strengths.”
Judge gave a similar answer about waiting to see if they had an answer for the starting cornerback spot opposite of Bradberry (Ryan is going to fill a variety of roles on the defense, including safety, the slot, and the perimeter).
“Right now, we’re looking to play as many of our players as possible at those positions. Keep them fresh and rotate,” he said.
“We’re going to make sure we use all of our guys, roll them on through, and we’ll see who performs the best. Whoever the hot hand is we may go with, but we’re going to make sure we keep rolling them on through and building the experience of the group as a whole.”
One guy who could be a key for the Giants is Yiadom, a former third-round pick by the Broncos whom the Giants believe might benefit more from playing in their press-man scheme. Yiadom has already picked up his iPad to start learning the team’s playbook while he goes through his COVID-19 entry testing.
“We like the way he plays on the line of scrimmage. He has some experience within the league. That goes a little bit of ways, but it’s our job as coaches to get him caught up to our system as fast as possible,” Judge said.
“There won’t be much carryover necessarily from the other system, but we try to keep as many of the techniques similar for him so he can carry over as fast as possible.”
Rush Will Be on the Frontline
The Giants signed quarterback Cooper Rush to be on their practice squad. But unlike 41-year-old John McCown, who signed with the Eagles practice squad and will collect a weekly in-season stipend of $12,000 while he self-quarantines at his home in Texas, Rush will be an active part of the Giants team and their practices, at least for the time being.
“At this moment in time, we’re going to keep him in the building and working with the team,” Judge said of Rush, adding that the team’s brass discussed their options.
“This is a guy we want to keep in the program, keep developing, keep involved in game plans. Keep the rest of our team as a whole.”
Judge said he has full confidence in the Giants’ health and safety protocols that are in place to keep the players safe.
“The daily testing has been effective for not only us, but for the league as a whole,” he said. “We’re going to keep the discipline of what we do on a daily basis.”
