New York Giants - Cincinnati Bengals | Week 12 Injury Impact Report

The Giants' first full practice coming out of their bye revealed some good news on the injury front.

Two starters, receiver Sterling Shepard (hip/toe) and right guard Kein Zeitler (concussion), were listed as limited and full participants, respectively.

Shepard, who has been on the injury report weekly since returning from the injured reserve list where he sat out with a turf toe, has valiantly pushed through his assorted lower-body ailments to make a difference in the Giants' offense.

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New York has averaged 231.8 net passing yards per game when he has been in the lineup and posted four games of 200+ yards. Without him, the Giants' passing yardage average dropped to 170 yards per game.

Shepard, for his part, is enjoying having the chance to contribute.

"It’s been great. Just trying to manage my foot throughout the week and get to the game, and just trying to be focused and help the team in any way I can," he said. "That's the type of player I am and that’s what I’ll continue to be."

As for his little nagging injuries, Shepard shrugged them off. "That’s this game," he said. "Stuff happens like that, so you've just got to take it for what it is and keep on moving. That's what I’ll keep on doing, keep moving and keep pushing."

The potential return of Zeitler is good news as his concussion suffered two weeks ago late in the game against the Eagles didn't linger. Zeitler was replaced by Shane Lemieux, who moved from left guard to right guard when he was injured.

Head coach Joe Judge has said in the past that he plans to rotate the guards much in the same way he's rotated the offensive tackles. Thus it's certainly not out of the question if both Will Hernandez and Zeitler, who are each coming back from physical ailments (Hernandez the COVID-19 virus), share their snaps with Lemieux.

Starting cornerback James Bradberry, who was excused from practice by head coach Joe Judge so he could tend to a personal matter, is expected to be back at practice by Friday when the Giants have a longer day planned to make up for the shorter day scheduled for Thanksgiving.

The Bengals had a slightly longer injury list to start the week, listing eight players who did not practice Wednesday. They included defensive tackles Geno Atkins, Mike Daniels, and receiver A.J. Green, all not injury-related; running back Gio Bernard (concussion); receiver Mike Thomas (hamstring); cornerback Mackensie Alexander (hamstring); and linebackers Markus Bailey (hamstring) and Logan Wilson (neck)

Bernard's injury is one to watch. The Bengals are already without Joe Mixon, their rushing leader who is on injured reserve with a foot injury.

Mixon, Bernard, and quarterback Joe Burrow have accounted for 761 of the Bengals' 1,019 rushing yards this season. So losing Bernard on top of being without Burrow and Mixon would be a devastating blow for the Bengals, whose next man up is probably Samaje Perine (24 rushes for 102 yards).

With the Bengals having to start either Ryan Finley or Brandon Allen at quarterback--both have limited experience as NFL starters--having a solid running game would undoubtedly be a big help.

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