Darius Slayton has a promising NFL debut

Receiver Darius Slayton was supposed to be the Giants deep-threat playmaker, the guy who, in the post-Odell Beckham Jr era, would be a guy who could stretch the field.

However, Slayton's body had other ideas. The rookie out of Auburn tweaked his hamstring at the start of training camp and ended up missing several weeks.

When he finally got healthy for Week 2 of the preseason, Slayton ended up aggravating the injury and had to start all over in his rehab.

This time around, the rookie hopes that he's finally put the issue behind him for good.

In his first NFL action, Slayton finished with three receptions out of five pass targets for 82 yards, including a huge 46-yard catch on a 1st-and-10 from midfield in the third quarter to help set up a Giants scoring drive cumulating in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Jones to Sterling Shepard tp make the score 28-25 Bucs.

"For one, I just wanted to get out there and play," he said after the game.

The Giants liked Slayton's deep-threat ability so much that they chose to keep him on the 53-man roster coming out of training camp rather than put him on IR with the intention of bringing him back later in the year.

Slayton rewarded their faith by working his tail off and making sure that when he did get his opportunities, he'd be ready to deliver.

"Obviously, Coach put me in for the majority of the last drive, which is a huge boost of confidence for me," he said. '

"I feel like he knew I was going to go out there and be able to make plays. I think it was the first or second play, I was able to make a catch, so I just appreciate my teammates having confidence in me, coaches having confidence in me and trusting me."

Slayton's 82 receiving yards were third on the team this week, behind the receiving yards totals by tight end Evan Engram (113) and receiver Sterling Shepard (100).

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