Aug 042016
 
Leon Hall, Cincinnati Bengals (November 29, 2015)

Leon Hall – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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NEW YORK GIANTS SIGN CORNERBACK LEON HALL…
The New York Giants have officially signed unrestricted free agent cornerback Leon Hall (Cincinnati Bengals). Hall visited the New York Giants on Wednesday after also visiting with the team in early May. The deal is said to be a 1-year contract worth up to $2 million.

To make room for Hall, the Giants waived cornerback Tramain Jacobs.

The 31-year old Hall was originally drafted in the 1st round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. In his nine seasons with the Bengals, Hall has played in 121 regular-season games with 105 starts. Hall started four of the 14 games he played in last season, finishing with 44 tackles, nine pass defenses, and two interceptions. He also won “AFC Player of the Week” for his performance in a December game against the St. Louis Rams.

The aging Hall is a physical press corner who tackles very well. He is very experienced and technically-sound. The strength of Hall’s game is his ability to cover receivers out of the slot position. Versatile, Hall has also played safety in some packages. Hall has suffered two Achilles’ tendon injuries (2011 and 2013) that has robbed him of some of his explosiveness. Hall also had back surgery this offseason to repair a disc injury. He is a hard worker and team leader.

ARTICLES…

Dec 082015
 
Zak DeOssie, New York Giants (November 3, 2014)

Zak DeOssie – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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GIANTS PLACE LARRY DONNELL AND ZAK DeOSSIE ON INJURED RESERVE…
The New York Giants have place tight end Larry Donnell (neck) and long snapper Zak DeOssie (wrist) on season-ending Injured Reserve. Donnell injured his neck on December 1st in a game against the New Orleans Saints and has missed the last four games. DeOssie had not missed a game in his 8-year career. He appeared on the team’s injury report on Saturday with the wrist injury but played in the game against the New York Jets. According to The New York Daily News, DeOssie has ligament damage in the wrist that will require surgery.

To fill the vacant roster spots, the Giants signed cornerback Tramain Jacobs and long snapper Danny Aiken to the 53-man roster.

The Giants signed Jacobs to the Practice Squad in September, promoted him to the 53-man roster in early November, and re-signed him to the Practice Squad nine days later after he had played in two regular-season games. Jacobs was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Baltimore Ravens after the 2014 NFL Draft. He played in three games as rookie after spending nine weeks on Baltimore’s Practice Squad. Jacobs finished the season on Injured Reserve with a thigh injury. The Ravens waived Jacobs in August 2015.

Aiken was originally signed by the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted rookie free agent after the 2011 NFL Draft. Since then, he has spent time with Bills (2011), New England Patriots (2011-14), and Carolina Panthers (2015). He played in 63 regular-season games and 10 postseason games for the Patriots, including Super Bowl XLVI against the Giants.

PRACTICE SQUAD MOVES…
The New York Giants have signed offensive tackle Jake Rodgers and cornerback Leon McFadden to the Practice Squad. The vacancies were created when the Giants signed linebacker James Morris and cornerback Tramain Jacobs to the 53-man roster.

Rodgers was originally drafted in the 7th round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons waived him in early September. Rodgers is a developmental prospect with a nice combination of size and athletic ability.

The Giants signed McFadden off of the Practice Squad of the Arizona Cardinals in October 2015, but waived him on December 5th after he had played in two games. McFadden was originally drafted in the 3rd round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. He played in all 16 games as a rookie with two starts. The Browns waived him in August 2014. Since then, he has spent time with the Jets, 49ers, Cardinals, and Giants. McFadden played in seven games for the 49ers in 2014. The 49ers waived him in September 2015.

RUEBEN RANDLE ON WFAN
The audio of Tuesday’s WFAN Radio interview with wide receiver Rueben Randle is available on CBS New York’s website.

NOTES…
Wide receiver Odell Beckham’s 2,459 yards is the highest total ever for a player in his first 24 games.

Beckham is the first receiver in Giants history with five consecutive 100-yard games.

Wide receiver/returner Dwayne Harris became the first player in Giants history with touchdowns on a punt return, kickoff return, and a reception in the same season.

Quarterback Eli Manning’s 72-yard touchdown pass to Beckham was his 14th career completion of at least 70 yards. The Giants have scored on all of them.

The Giants have rushed for at least 100 yards just twice in their first 12 games for the first time in their history.

ARTICLES…

WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The players return to practice on Thursday to start preparing for Monday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.

Nov 232015
 


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NEW YORK GIANTS INJURY REPORT…
OC Weston Richburg (high ankle sprain), LG Justin Pugh (concussion protocol), and DE Damontre Moore (hamstring) did not practice on Monday.

“I’m trying to get back as soon as I can,” said Richburg. “It all depends on how the ankle takes the rehab. I just have to stay after it this week, and try and be back as soon as I can. I’d like to be back as soon as possible. The sooner I get this thing moving, the better.”

“(Pugh) won’t be able to do anything until he meets all the conditions (of the concussion protocol),” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin.

TE Larry Donnell (neck), LB J.T. Thomas (ankle), LB Uani ‘Unga (neck), and CB Prince Amukamara (pectoral) returned to practice.

“I feel like I’m ready to play four quarters of a football game,” said Amukamara. “I feel 100 percent. I feel ready to go.”

TRAMAIN JACOBS SIGNED TO PRACTICE SQUAD…
The New York Giants have re-signed cornerback Tramain Jacobs to the Practice Squad. The Giants signed Jacobs to the Practice Squad in September, promoted him to the 53-man roster on November 7, and waived him on November 16. He played against the Buccaneers and Patriots. Jacobs was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Baltimore Ravens after the 2014 NFL Draft. The Ravens waived Jacobs in August 2015.

HEAD COACH TOM COUGHLIN…
The transcript of Tom Coughlin’s press conference on Monday is available in The Corner Forum while the video is available at Giants.com.

THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
The following transcripts and video of player media sessions on Monday are available in The Corner Forum and at Giants.com:

ARTICLES…

WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The players are off Tuesday and return to practice on Wednesday to start preparing for Sunday’s away game against the Washington Redskins.

Nov 162015
 
Odell Beckham and Victor Cruz, New York Giants (October 11, 2015)

Odell Beckham and Victor Cruz – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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VICTOR CRUZ DONE FOR SEASON…
New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz announced on BleacherReport.com on Monday that he will have season-ending surgery on his left calf. It will be the third leg surgery for Cruz since 2012. Cruz underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in 2013 and major patellar tendon surgery on his right knee in 2014. It is believed the calf injury – which first appeared in mid-August – is related to his comeback from the patellar tendon injury.

Cruz returned to practice on September 30, but suffered a setback with the calf injury. Since then, he had two platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections to help the healing process. Cruz had said that both were helping to improve his calf and he had started to run again. It was expected that he would attempt to return to practice after the upcoming bye week. However, he apparently suffered another setback on Saturday.

“Saturday he was on the side with the trainers and they were doing some three-quarter speed, then all of a sudden it happened again,” said General Manager Jerry Reese.

“We thought coming off the big patella injury that he had that he was going to be ready to go,” said Reese. “And then all of a sudden, he gets the calf, which has become more bizarre for me—it’s the ‘Year of the Calf’ for us, I guess. Every time we’ve gotten him out there, we babied him through, babied him through, babied him through, then we start to do some things with him and he just can’t do it. Even after the first time we thought he was ready, we thought about putting him on the reserve/return. Our doctors said, ‘That’s too far.’ They said it was too far, so we kept him on the 53 instead of putting him on it. And now if we had known, obviously, we would have gotten a roster player.”

Cruz signed a 6-year, $45.9 million contract in July 2013. Since then, he has only played in 20 games. The annual salaries and cap hits for the 29-year old Cruz in the final four years of his contract are as follows:

  • 2015: $6.15 million salary; $8.125 million cap hit
  • 2016: $7.9 million salary; $9.9 million cap hit
  • 2017: $7.4 million salary; $9.4 million cap hit
  • 2018: $8.4 million salary; $8.5 million cap hit

Reese was asked how much of a challenge it will be for Cruz to return after missing most of the past two seasons. “Yeah, who knows? When you’re gone for a couple of years like that, you just can’t jump back in and play, I don’t think,” said Reese. “I think you have to build your way back up and get your feet under you and get your confidence back and have the quarterback get his confidence back and get that chemistry back. I don’t think it’s an easy road back, but I know how hard he works and how hard he worked in getting back from the patella injury. We’ll see where that goes…If he has the same kind of progress that (safety) Nat (Berhe has) had, maybe this thing will get behind him and he can start on the road back.”

EMMETT CLEARY PROMOTED TO 53-MAN ROSTER, TRAMAIN JACOBS WAIVED…
The New York Giants have signed offensive tackle Emmett Cleary to the 53-man roster from the team’s Practice Squad. To make room for Cleary, the Giants waived cornerback Tramain Jacobs. The Giants have also terminated the Practice Squad contract of cornerback Dax Swanson.

The Giants signed Cleary to the Practice Squad in September 2015. Cleary was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Indianapolis Colts after the 2013 NFL Draft. He has since also spent time with the Buccaneers, Raiders, and Bengals. The Giants signed Cleary to a Reserve/Future contract in January 2015. He is a decent athlete who has played both right and left tackle.

The Giants signed Jacobs to the 53-man roster from the Practice Squad on November 7th. Jacobs was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Baltimore Ravens after the 2014 NFL Draft. The Ravens waived Jacobs in August 2015 and the Giants signed him to their Practice Squad in September.

The Giants signed Dax Swanson to the Practice Squad on November 5th. Swanson was originally signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted rookie free agent after the 2013 NFL Draft. Since then he has spent time on the Practice Squads of the San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

NEW YORK GIANTS INJURY UPDATE…
According to ESPN, center Weston Richburg has been diagnosed with a “mild” high ankle sprain. “Ankle sprain,” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin. “However long it takes, hopefully he’ll come back next week, he’ll look pretty good after the break.”

Cornerback Prince Amukamara, who has missed the last five games with a pectoral injury says he is ready to return. “I will be ready after the bye,” Amukamara said. “That was kind of the plan all along. We were looking at the fourth week, Buccaneers, seeing if I was going to be ready then. This game came and I still wasn’t ready, so it’s according to the original prognosis, which was three to six weeks and this was the fifth week. If we had a game next week, I would 100 percent be playing…I’m 100 percent playing, according to me, in the Redskins game, unless something not so smart happens.”

GENERAL MANAGER JERRY REESE…
The transcript of Jerry Reese’s press conference on Monday is available in The Corner Forum while the video is available at Giants.com.

HEAD COACH TOM COUGHLIN…
The transcript of Tom Coughlin’s press conference on Monday is available in The Corner Forum while the video is available at Giants.com.

POSITION COACHES…
Transcripts and video clips of Monday’s media sessions with the following coaches are available in The Corner Forum and at Giants.com:

THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
The following transcripts and video of player media sessions on Monday are available in The Corner Forum and at Giants.com:

ARTICLES…

Nov 072015
 
Jason Pierre-Paul, New York Giants (February 5, 2012)

Jason Pierre-Paul – © USA TODAY Sports Images

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JASON PIERRE-PAUL TO 53-MAN ROSTER; JON BEASON TO IR…
As anticipated, the New York Giants have lifted the two-week roster exemption on defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and added him to the 53-man roster. Pierre-Paul is now expected to play on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“My confidence is high and can’t nobody tell me different,” Pierre-Paul told ESPN. “Let me tell you, when guys say they know what pain is…I feel like nobody in here knows what real pain is like. I know what it feels like. Even if I get a nick here or there, my mindset is different about overcoming things because I’m just so happy to be playing…I’m going to be the same JPP that can run to the quarterback out there and make everybody around me better. I’m starting to do that already.”

To make room for Pierre-Paul, the Giants also unexpectedly placed linebacker Jon Beason on season-ending Injured Reserve. Beason had been dealing with ankle and knee injuries. Beason missed the first two games of the season with a knee issue, played in Weeks 3-7, before missing last week’s game against the Saints. Beason has been unable to play more than five games in four of his last five seasons with the Carolina Panthers and Giants due to various injuries.

The Giants traded a 2014 7th round draft pick to the Panthers for Beason in October 2013. New York re-signed him to a 3-year, $16.8 million contract in the 2014 offseason. He accepted a pay cut in March 2015. Beason currently has one year left ($2.8 million salary, $6.6 million cap hit) on his current contract, but his New York Giants career may be over. The Giants would save $5.1 million against the 2016 salary cap if they cut the injury-prone player after the season with $1,466,668 in dead money.

The Giants also signed cornerback Tramain Jacobs to the 53-man roster from the team’s Practice Squad. The move was necessary because cornerback Leon McFadden (groin) was downgraded from “questionable” to “out” for Sunday’s game. To make room for Jacobs, the Giants waived defensive tackle Louix Nix.

The Giants signed Jacobs to the Practice Squad in September 2015. Jacobs was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Baltimore Ravens after the 2014 NFL Draft. He played in three games as rookie after spending nine weeks on Baltimore’s Practice Squad. Jacobs finished the season on Injured Reserve with a thigh injury. The Ravens waived him in August 2015. Jacobs is an average-sized corner with good speed and quickness. He is also instinctive and competitive.

Nix was signed by the Giants after he was waived by the Houston Texans in September 2015. Nix was originally drafted in the 3rd round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Texans.

ARTICLES…

Sep 162015
 


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INJURY REPORT…
Not practicing on Wednesday due to injuries were WR Victor Cruz (calf), TE Daniel Fells (foot), LT Will Beatty (pectoral – on PUP), DE Owamagbe Odighizuwa (foot), DT Markus Kuhn (knee), and LB Jon Beason (knee).

LT Ereck Flowers (ankle) and LB Uani’ Unga (knee) practiced on a limited basis.

ELI MANNING CONTRACT DETAILS…
The New York Daily News provided the following summary on quarterback Eli Manning’s contract extension.

  • Total contract (last year plus 4-year extension): 5 years, $101.5 million
  • Signing Bonus: $31 million
  • Guaranteed Money: $65 million
  • 2015: $5.5 million salary, $500,000 workout bonus, total cap number $14.45 million
  • 2016: $17.5 million salary, $500,000 workout bonus, total cap number $24.2 million
  • 2017: $13 million salary, $500,000 workout bonus, total cap number $19.7 million
  • 2018: $10.5 million salary, $5 million roster bonus, $500,000 workout bonus, total cap number $22.2 million
  • 2019: $11.5 million salary, $5 million roster bonus, $500,000 workout bonus, total cap number $23.2 million

The new contract provides the Giants with $5.25 million in cap savings against the 2015 salary cap. Right now, including DE Jason Pierre-Paul’s Franchise tender, the Giants are $14,127,537 under the cap. They will gain an additional $871,352 for each week Pierre-Paul does not play. Any unspent money can be rolled over to next year’s cap.

PRACTICE SQUAD MOVES…
The New York Giants have signed guard Vinston Painter, linebacker James Morris, and cornerback Tramain Jacobs to the Practice Squad.

Painter was originally drafted in the 6th round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He spent the 2013 regular season on Denver’s Practice Squad and was added to the Practice Squad again in 2014. The Cleveland Browns signed Painter to their active roster in September 2014, but he was only active for three games. The Brown waived him in September 2015. Painter converted to offensive line from defensive tackle and only started one season in college. He has a nice combination of size and athletic ability, but he is still learning the game. Right now, he looks better than he plays.

Morris was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the New England Patriots after the 2014 NFL Draft. The Patriots placed him on Injured Reserve in August 2014 after tearing an ACL in the final preseason game against the Giants. Morris lacks ideal size and overall athleticism, but he is instinctive, tough, hard working, and competitive.

Jacobs was originally signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by the Baltimore Ravens after the 2014 NFL Draft. He played in three games as rookie after spending nine weeks on Baltimore’s Practice Squad. Jacobs finished the season on Injured Reserve with a thigh injury. The Ravens waived him in August 2015. Jacobs is an average-sized corner with good speed and quickness. He is also instinctive and competitive.

The team has also terminated the Practice Squad contracts of quarterback G.J. Kinne, linebacker Gerald Rivers, and safety C.J.  Conway.

HEAD COACH TOM COUGHLIN…
The transcript of Tom Coughlin’s press conference on Wednesday is available in The Corner Forum while the video is available at Giants.com.

THE PLAYERS SPEAK…
The following transcripts and video of player media sessions on Wednesday are available in The Corner Forum and at Giants.com:

ARTICLES

GIANTS-COWBOYS: SIGHTS AND SOUNDS…
A sights and sounds video from the Giants’ 27-26 loss to the Dallas Cowboys is now available at Giants.com.

NOTES…
QB Eli Manning started his 168th consecutive regular-season game in Dallas. DT Johnathan Hankins has the team’s second-longest starting streak at 17 games.

Manning’s 193 passing yards in Dallas increased his career total to 39,948. He needs 52 yards against Atlanta on Sunday to become the 15th quarterback in NFL history with at least 40,000 passing yards.

Manning threw neither a touchdown pass nor an interception vs. the Cowboys. That’s just the eighth time that’s happened in his 168 starts. The Giants are 4-4 in those games. It was the 29th time he didn’t throw a touchdown pass. The Giants are 9-20 when Manning does not throw for a score.

When Sam Bradford lined up under center for Philadelphia last night, he became the 29th different quarterback to start for the other three NFC East teams since Manning’s starting debut on Nov. 21, 2004. The Eagles lead the pack with 11 quarterbacks, followed by Washington (10) and Dallas (9). Donovan McNabb started for both Philadelphia and Washington. He counts in each team’s total, but just once in the division total.

Left tackle Ereck Flowers and safety Landon Collins, the Giants’ first two selections in this year’s NFL Draft, each started in Dallas. It was the first time the Giants’ first and second-round draft choices started the season opener as rookies since Aug. 31, 1997, when wide receiver Ike Hilliard (first round) and running back Tiki Barber (second) started in a victory over Philadelphia.

The Cowboys scored the game-winning points on an 11-yard pass from Tony Romo to Jason Witten with seven seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is the first time a Giants opponent scored a go-ahead, game-winning touchdown with seven or fewer seconds remaining in the Super Bowl era (now in its 50th season).

The Giants had not lost a game with a turnover differential of plus-3 or better since Nov. 29, 1987 at Washington, where four takeaways and just one turnover couldn’t prevent a 23-19 defeat.

WHAT’S UP NEXT…
The Giants practice on Thursday and hold physical recovery cycles on Friday in advance of Sunday’s home opener against the Atlanta Falcons.