Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Three Key New York Giants Players Ruled Out Against New England
The New York Giants are planning a dress rehearsal for their team Sunday evening when they host the New England Patriots. But that half or so of football in which the starters are expected to play will be missing some very important members of the offense.
Head coach Joe Judge confirmed that running back Saquon Barkley, wide receiver Kenny Golladay, and tight end Kyle Rudolph will not participate in Sunday’s preseason game. All three are working their way back from physical ailments and have been working to ramp up for the season under the watchful eye of trainers.
Barkley, who is working his way back from a torn ACL, has been slowly integrated into team drills, taking part in a combination of eight seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills during Thursday's padded practice against the Patriots. Barkley, however, wore a red "no-contact" jersey for the practice, as New York has been very deliberate in bringing him along.
Still, Judge admitted that at some point, Barkley would need to take a few shots to get ready for the season ahead. But with time running out--the Giants held a walkthrough practice Friday and will do so again Saturday--there are questions as to whether the Giants will have enough time ad opportunity to get Barkley some hits.
"I’d say there’s enough time to get a lot of things accomplished," Judge said Thursday. "Again, the medical team will play a large part in where everybody is available for specific parts, but as we build in he’s consistently ramped up every week, increased his volume, increased his load."
Judge declined to offer a guess as to whether Barkley would be ready for Week 1 when he spoke to reporters before practice Friday.
Rudolph's absence for Sunday night's game isn't a surprise considering he was just activated off the PUP list Wednesday. The Giants' tight end is coming off off-season foot surgery he had in late March but recently has done much more in terms of running routes and catching passes.
He's participated in two practices, both being held out of team drills. Before having his surgery, Rudolph told reporters on several occasions that he was determined not to miss any football, but it's still too soon to say if he'll meet that goal.
Golladay has been rehabbing a hamstring strain that wasn't believed to be serious. After suffering the injury a couple of weeks ago, he could walk off the field under his own power. The Giants have taken advantage of the timing of the injury by allowing Golladay to rest his hamstring as much as possible to avoid a setback. However, his availability for the Broncos is still uncertain.
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Judge did not specify if rookie receiver Kadarius Toney and cornerback Adoree' Jackson (ankle) would play Sunday against the Patriots. Still, it's probably a safe assumption that neither will be in the lineup after they spent the last week working with trainers on the side.
Toney's first NFL training camp has been rocky. He began camp on the reserve/COVID-19 list, and then once he began his ramp-up, he sufferer an undisclosed injury reportedly thought to be tied in with his conditioning drop-off.
Judge said they would see where Toney is in his recovery and go from there.
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