New York Giants Notebook: Injury and Contract Updates

It wasn't meant to be for New York Giants second-year cornerback Aaron Robinson.

Robinson, who was elevated to the starting cornerback position after the team had to part ways with James Bradberry in a salary cap-related move, missed two games earlier in the season after undergoing an emergency appendectomy following the team's Week 1 win at Tennessee.

His return was short-lived, however, as in Week 4 against the Bears, he suffered a knee injury that landed him on injured reserve. And on Tuesday, head coach Brian Daboll said that it was "doubtful" that Robinson, who has fulfilled the four-week minimum requirement to be on injured reserve, would be designated to return this season.

It's also doubtful that defensive lineman Nick Williams, who was placed on injured reserve Monday with a biceps injury, will also return from injured reserve before the end of the year.

All NFL teams get a maximum of eight players they can bring back from injured reserve. The Giants have thus far designated for return edge Elerson Smith (who did return), offensive lineman Shane Lemieux, and cornerback Rodarius Williams.

Is a New Punt Returner Coming? The Giants are exploring other options for their punt returner role, held all season thus far by receiver Richie James.

James is currently in the league's protocol after suffering a concussion two weeks ago against the Seahawks. He took part in fielding punts Tuesday, albeit in a red medical jersey, which suggests he still needs to clear the protocol.

According to Daboll, others who took turns fielding punts included cornerback Darnay Holmes and receiver Kalil Pimpleton.

Pimpleton, who is on the practice squad, would make the most sense for the role, but the Giants have some other needs to address on the roster, namely depth on the defensive line given the Nick Williams injury, and safety given the NFI suffered by Xavier McKinney.

Daboll wouldn't say which way he was leaning regarding the punt returner.

"I’m not going to get into who we’re playing, who we’re not playing," he said. "I’d say that we have a lot of people competing for that spot. And we’ll see where it goes."

Other Injury News. The Giants don't have to submit an official injury report until Wednesday, but here is what is known about some of their injured players.

Receiver Kenny Golladay, who has been sidelined with a knee sprain since Week 5, went through the team's light practice on Tuesday, as did cornerback Cor'Dale Flott (calf) and outside linebacker Oshane Ximines (quad).

Kenny Golladay hits the practice field ahead of his expected return this weekend: pic.twitter.com/f0Phw2kam9
— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) November 8, 2022

Tight end Daniel Bellinger (eye) and tackle Evan Neal (knee) did not practice per Daboll. Bellinger, who had eye surgery a couple of weeks ago, has been making rapid progress, and there is hope he'll be ready to go sooner than later.

"He’s getting better," Daboll said of Bellinger. "(He) looks a lot better, too."

Neal, meanwhile, is thought to be at least another game or two away from returning.

Contract Updates. General manager Joe Schoen mentioned that the organization would begin discussions about possible contract extensions with some of their soon-to-be free agents.

Schoen didn't make clear (although it was kind of clear given the team's lousy cap situation) whether those discussions were strictly internal as far as deciding some early parameters or if they were going to reach out to the players' agents about a new deal.

Again, given the lack of cap space, they likely had some initial discussions about who they wanted back so that their people could begin researching parameters and such.

Quarterback Daniel Jones, for example, told reporters that as far as he knew, the team hadn't contacted his representatives about a new deal.

Defensive back Julian Love hinted that no one contacted his reps either over the bye. He also expressed hope that something could be worked out down the line. "If something can get done, I’d love to get it done, but the bye week was that time to figure things out and be involved in it. Right now, I’m letting my agent handle it and focusing on this bigger role for me and doing my thing."

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