Travis Rudolph – © USA TODAY Sports Images
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NEW YORK GIANTS ROSTER MOVES…
The New York Giants have placed wide receivers Odell Beckham, Jr. (fractured ankle) and Dwayne Harris (fractured foot) on Injured Reserve. To fill those vacant roster spots, the Giants signed wide receiver Travis Rudolph from the Practice Squad and re-signed wide receiver Tavarres King, who the team waived last month.
The Giants also signed wide receiver Darius Powe to the Practice Squad.
Rudolph was originally signed by the Giants as an undrafted rookie free agent after the 2017 NFL Draft.
King was originally drafted in the 5th round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He spent time with the Broncos (2013), Panthers (2013-14), Jaguars (2014), and Buccaneers (2014-15). The Giants signed King to the Practice Squad in late September 2015. He played in seven regular season games in 2016 and the playoff game. The Giants waived him on September 18, 2017.
The Giants originally signed Powe as an undrafted rookie free agent after the 2016 NFL Draft and he spent the 2016 season on the team’s Practice Squad. He was waived/injured in August 2017 with a hamstring injury.
INJURY UPDATE…
The Giants announced that wide receiver Odell Beckham, Jr. will have surgery this week to repair his fractured ankle and that wide receiver Dwayne Harris will have surgery on Tuesday to repair his fractured foot (5th metatarsal).
In addition, wide receiver Brandon Marshall is undergoing further testing and examination today on his ankle. Wide receiver Sterling Shepard is day-to-day with a sprained ankle. Linebacker Jonathan Casillas (burner) and safety Landon Collins (sprained ankle) are both day-to-day.
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 27-22 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers:
McAdoo: Let’s start with yesterday’s ballgame. Defensively, I thought we played well at times, especially early in the ballgame. We had five three and outs in the first half. We had a safety and an INT in the red zone. What we need to work on, our tackling improved, but we’re not where we want to be just yet. And getting off the field in the second half.
Offensively, we started faster than we had previously, but we did leave some points off the board. Got the running game going and everyone had a hand in it. Whether it was o-line, tight ends, the backs ran hard. I thought the perimeter blocked well and the quarterback kept us in the good looks. We overcame injuries in the second half and put a couple touchdowns on the board with only two healthy receivers out there available to us. What we need to work on, we have to get our pass protection back on track. We have to take care of The Duke better and we have to eliminate the penalties that cost us.
Special teams, I thought PAT/field goal block we had some good, hard rushes out there. In the punt game, our plus area downing was a positive. Two inside the five, one in the ten, one inside the 15. In our punt return, our perimeter blocking improved, took a step there. Averaged 12.7 on average on a return. What we need to work on, our kickoff coverage squeeze and our kickoff return, our football position and delivering a blow.
Where do we go from here? We’re all disappointed and irritated to be where we are right now. No one thought we would be sitting here like this in this position. I said it once, I’m going to say it again, I believe in this group of players and coaches and what this team could be. We’re not there yet, but we owe it to each other and the organization to handle ourselves with class, prepare well this week and give us a chance to win the ballgame on Sunday night. With that, we’ll open it up.
Q: Have you had a chance to speak to Odell (Beckham)? How is he doing?
A: I spoke to him after the game. It’s a sad situation.
Q: Is it fair to say his season is over at this point?
A: Yes.
Q: How do you fill that void?
A: Yeah, we have a bunch of guys who were nicked up in the ballgame at the receiver spot. We have some guys on the practice squad, some guys on the roster that we just thought we would bump them up and give them opportunities. Next man up. They’re well deserving of opportunities. You hate to see it like this, but it’s a part of the game.
Q: Are there any long-term concerns about Odell’s injury?
A: I didn’t get into any of that. That’s unknown at this point.
Q: Does the goal of this season have to change?
A: Yeah, we just need to, like I said earlier, we owe it to each other. We put a lot of work and a lot of time and a lot of effort into this thing and we owe it to the organization to handle ourselves with class and go prepare well this week and give us a chance to win the game.
Q: How quickly can you get the new receivers that you’re bringing in up to speed?
A: Yeah, we have to go out and we have to make sure we give them as many reps as we can with the quarterback. Get them into some type of rhythm. Get some type of chemistry going. There are guys who are familiar with what we’re doing. So we have confidence there. We know them, they know us. So we just have to go out and put our work in this week.
Q: Yesterday after the game, Eli Apple said, ‘it’s not just one guy, it’s the whole culture, it’s everything. We’ve got to fix it.’ What is your reaction to the ‘whole culture’ part of that comment?
A: I’m not sure what you’re referring to. What was the question about that he was asked?
Q: He was asked about being benched and he ended up saying, “it’s not just one guy, it’s the whole culture, it’s everything. We’ve got to fix that.” Do you think you have a problem with the culture?
A: I think we are in a slump right now and we have to get back to work. Make sure we are holding each other and ourselves accountable. The standards can’t drop. The standards have got to stay high and we have to figure out a way to close these games in the fourth quarter with wins.
Q: Given the way the season has gone, are you going to give younger players more of a chance to go out and play?
A: Yeah, we are going to take a look. At this point, we have some guys that are nicked up, so it’s going to create opportunities just naturally for some younger players and for some other players to jump in there and play. And that sort of takes care of itself when you have the type of guys nicked up that we do. But we don’t shy away from playing young players, regardless.
Q: Is Victor Cruz an option to bring back?
A: To my knowledge, he is not an option, but never say never.
Q: What do you look for when you’re dealing with a situation like this?
A: Usually the day after the game and a little bit on Tuesday morning, the emotions are still there. That’s normal, that’s a part of it, that’s healthy. That means nobody is numb. But you have to flush those emotions before you get to that Wednesday practice and really after you correct the game on Tuesday, you have to flush the emotions and you have to move onto the next opponent. You have to keep your chin up and you got to be full speed ahead on the next one. That’s the most important thing for us. Be all in on the next one.
Q: How do you think Eli (Manning) played yesterday?
A: I thought he directed the runs well. I’m sure there were some throws he would like to have back.
Q: Are you at a point now where there is stuff that you can change? Or do you just stick to the program and hope it works out?
A: I think we just got to get better at getting better. Wholesale changes are tough at this point. Your players are your players, your coaches are your coaches. We need to find a way to go out and improve the fundamentals and prepare with class and give ourselves a chance to win.
Q: Are the next guys up Tavarres King and Travis Rudolph?
A: Nothing is set in stone right now, but those would be two pretty good options.
Q: During your slump, do you feel like you’re carrying over what happened from game to game?
A: Obviously the last three games have come down to the fourth quarter. We’ve been right in the ballgames and have had a lead in the fourth quarter in these ballgames and we haven’t been able to extend the lead and haven’t been able to keep the lead. There is a connection there whether you like to have that, no you wouldn’t, but that’s part of being in a slump. You got to find a way to win with each team you have and year to year it changes, and we haven’t been able to get that done and that’s my responsibility.
Q: How do you get that through to them?
A: We have to keep throwing effort at it. Yesterday, again, no excuses, we ran out of some firepower on offense. But the guys kept fighting. We have a lot of fight in this team. I’ll say that about them. There is a lot of fight, the games go down to the wire. We just got to find a way to find our path to victory.
Q: Do you have a problem with Janoris Jenkins leaving the field with 40 seconds left?
A: We’ll handle all those issues in-house.
Q: Have you had any conversations with ownership recently about how this season is going?
A: Everyone is disappointed, I am aware of it. Everyone is irritated, I am aware of it. But my focus right now is trying to help with the personnel department to field a football team this week to give us a chance to prepare and win.
ARTICLES…
WHAT’S UP NEXT…
Select players will be available to the press on Tuesday. The Giants return to practice on Wednesday.
