Orleans Darkwa – © USA TODAY Sports
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NEW YORK GIANTS INJURY REPORT…
The New York Giants did not practice on Monday, but since the team has a short week because of Thursday’s game against the Washington Redskins, it was required to issue an injury report.
Guard D.J. Fluker (toe), guard/tackle Justin Pugh (back), defensive end Olivier Vernon (shoulder), defensive tackle Damon Harrison (ankle), linebacker B.J. Goodson (ankle), and linebacker Calvin Munson (quad) would not have practiced today. According to multiple press reports, Fluker will not play on Thursday and could be out longer.
Running back Orleans Darkwa (hamstring), wide receiver Sterling Shepard (illness), defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (knee), defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson (ankle), and linebacker Kelvin Sheppard (groin) would have been limited.
MONDAY BEN MCADOO CONFERENCE CALL…
New York Giants Head Coach Ben McAdoo addressed the media by conference call on Monday to discuss the team’s 12-9 overtime victory over the Kansas City Chiefs:
Q: What’s the schedule like this week?
A: Today, we had some meeting time. We had a walk through on the field and we were quick on and off today. No helmets or anything like that. Want to make sure we give the players enough time to recover from this last game getting ready for the next one. So, mental preparation will be big. Sleep will be huge. Have to recover.
Q: Is tomorrow like a regular full practice?
A: No. No. We’re not going to hit much, if any. Speed this week.
Q: Is this a good thing that you have a short work week coming off of a win when it comes to building on the momentum?
A: I think it gives us an opportunity to stack two ‘W’s in five days. That’s good. It’s tough for the guys to get ready to play. The players, you know, they poured their hearts out in the overtime game yesterday. So, it’s a quick turnaround for the players. That’s always tough on them, but we don’t make the schedule. We just got to play it, so we’ll be ready to go.
Q: Did the overtime game cause you to make tweaks to the schedule or was it pretty much set before that?
A: Our schedule was pretty much set before that. We have a plan going in. We’ve done a version of it here since I’ve been here and it’s – got to get the players fresh, got to get them recovered from the last game so they’re ready to fire on all cylinders on Thursday night.
Q: Do you expect Eli Apple to be a full participant and ready to go Thursday night?
A: He was here today and went through practice. Yes.
Q: Will it be a normal week for him then?
A: It’s a normal week for Eli, yes.
Q: Was the decision with him just that he didn’t think he had enough time in practice to be ready to play?
A: Yeah. It was a coach’s decision.
Q: Do you expect D.J. Fluker and Justin Pugh to be able to go on Thursday and if not, who will go in at guard?
A: Yeah. You know I’m not going to tell you that. Fluker – if we were to practice today, he would not have practiced. It was more of a walk through-type day today. But, he did not go. Would not have been able to go. If we had to play today he would not have played.
Q: If you have to make a change at guard, how confident are you that John Greco is ready?
A: He’s played a lot of football in his career. He’s been around a long time, been in a lot of different systems. So, we’re confident that John will be able to go and be able to step in for us.
Q: What was your assessment of Chad Wheeler?
A: Yeah, you know, Chad is – like I said yesterday, I think the best way to describe it is you didn’t notice him a whole heck of a lot. He was physical in the run game. I thought he did some good things in pass protection. Now, the challenge for Chad is there’s film of him now. So, when the opponent has film and they know who’s playing, they can go study the tape. So, Chad needs to study himself as well as the opponent this week and take steps to improve.
Q: Did you already address Sterling Shepard?
A: You’re late?
Q: 6:29.
A: You got to be on NYG time, but Sterling Shepard would have been a limited participant in practice today if we had a normal football practice and not just a walk through-type practice.
Q: When a guy has migraines like that do you put them through a concussion protocol to make sure that it’s just migraines?
A: That’s a better question for medical, but right now he is not in the protocol.
Q: Has he had migraines in the past?
A: That’s a better question for Sterling.
Q: Did he mention it though?
A: Better question for Sterling.
Q: Any concerns about the ability of others you added to the injury report?
A: Yeah, I mean, it’s a short week, so it’s tough to recover. That’s the biggest challenge going from a Sunday overtime game to a Thursday night game. We have a lot of guys who are banged up. They’re going to have to fight through some things and possibly Calvin (Munson) and OV (Olivier Vernon). It is a concern.
Q: Now that you’ve evened up with Mike Sullivan when it comes to play calling, how do you assess the change and how it’s looked thus far?
A: I think our run game is coming. It’s coming along. You’re seeing some physicality in the guys up front. I think the tight ends are making progress and they’re fitting in. We added a couple new pieces there as well as the offensive line. They’re working well together. I think the backs are making some progress, so the run game is probably the most encouraging thing. What you’re seeing – third down is a challenge for us right now. That’s an area where we spend a lot of time and we want to continue to improve and work to improve. But, I think Sully has done a tremendous job there calling it. It’s not an easy chore. But, we’re making some progress especially in the run game. He sticks to the run, which I like.
THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
Transcripts of Monday’s media conference calls with the following players are available in The Corner Forum:
LANDON COLLINS ON ESPN RADIO…
The audio of Monday’s ESPN Radio interview with New York Giants safety Landon Collins is available at ESPN.com.
ARTICLES…
- Eli Manning sparks Giants with pregame speech by Tom Rock of Newsday
WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The players return to practice on Tuesday in preparation for Thursday’s night game against the Washington Redskins. There is no media availability to the team on Wednesday.
Eric Kennedy
Eric Kennedy is Editor-in-Chief of BigBlueInteractive.com, a publication of Big Blue Interactive, LLC. Follow @BigBlueInteract on Twitter.
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