NY Giants Very Likely to Be Down Another Receiver vs. Eagles

Barring a miracle, Darius Slayton is in danger of missing Thursday's game against the Eagles due to a hamstring injury.

New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton (18) is unlikely to play Thursday night against the Eagles. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The New York Giants are not expected to have receiver Darius Slayton available for Thursday night’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Slayton suffered a hamstring injury during the second half of the team’s Week 5 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Although he expressed hope of being able to play against the Eagles after that game, Slayton has been projected as not having been able to practice on Monday and Tuesday had the Giants had a full practice instead of meetings and walkthroughs.

Slayton, who was elevated to the WR1 role with Malik Nabers done for the season with a torn ACL, had one of his worst games in recent years against the Saints, coming up with three catches on six pass targets for 31 yards.

However, he also had a critical fumble that the Saints converted into points, as well as a dropped pass on a deep ball.

With Slayton expected to be declared out on the final injury report, the Giants are likely to elevate receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey from the practice squad to provide depth at the position. 

Humphrey, 6-4 and 225 pounds, is a seven-year NFL veteran who has caught 63 out of 91 pass targets for 784 yards (423 after the catch) and seven touchdowns over a career that has seen him contribute to the Saints, Patriots, and Broncos offenses. 

A sure-handed receiver, Humphrey only has two career drops and has logged a 40% success rate in contested catch situations.

Meanwhile, it’s not known if Slayton’s injury is serious enough to warrant placement on IR, something the Giants might want to wait to decide on, given that they’ll have 10 days following their clash with the Eagles to see how the veteran receiver responds to treatment.

The Giants currently have two open roster spots resulting from last week’s waiving of outside linebacker Tomon Fox and the placement of Malik Nabers on IR.

New York also has a league-low $1.427 million in cap space as of Wednesday morning, which is likely why they have not yet filled those spots. 

The Giants and Eagles, both of whom are coming off Week 5 losses,  kick off their Thursday night matchup at 8:20 p.m. at MetLife Stadium.

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