Barkley, Golladay and Rudolph all out vs. Pats
NEW YORK — The next time Daniel Jones and Kenny Golladay play in a game together will be the first time.
Joe Judge said Jones and the “majority” of the Giants’ players will play “a minimum” of one half in Sunday night’s preseason finale against the visiting New England Patriots.
The head coach is treating the game as a “dress rehearsal for the season.”
But Golladay (hamstring), the team’s expensive free agent receiver, will continue to be among the many offensive weapons who sit out. The receiver didn’t even jog routes in Friday’s walkthrough practice at Metlife Stadium.
Golladay, Saquon Barkley (right knee) and Kyle Rudolph (foot) all won’t play, Judge said Friday. Rookie Kadarius Toney (undisclosed) isn’t expected to, either, given that he continues to do almost nothing at practice.
The good news is that the expectation remains that Golladay will be ready for Week 1, per sources. Holding him out is essentially a precautionary measure to ensure he’s full go on Sept. 12 against the Denver Broncos.
Still, this means Jones won’t get real game reps with his full arsenal in the preseason and might not have several weapons in Week 1, either.
Golladay hasn’t practiced since early August. Toney has barely practiced all camp.
Rudolph just hit the practice field for limited work for the first time all summer on Wednesday.
Barkley’s four reps in 11-on-11 on Thursday in Foxboro, Mass., were his first since Sept. 20, 2020.
The silver lining is Judge was pleased with Barkley’s practice, including his elusive catch and run over the middle on his final snap. Barkley’s Week 1 status is still not clear.
“I thought it was really encouraging,” Judge said. “That’s really what you’re looking for. I keep talking about reactionary quickness. You’ve got to catch a ball, locate a defender, make a move, have some suddenness and your body just has to be able to go and play explosively.”
Corner Adoree Jackson (left ankle sprain) also was back on the sideline Friday with trainers just two days after his injury in Foxboro and continues to eye Week 1, even though he was limping noticeably on Friday when he jogged.
Across the board, time is running out for the Giants to get healthy for the games that count. Their regular season opener is just two weeks from Sunday.
Engram back in mix: Tight end Evan Engram participated in Friday’s walkthrough after sitting out Thursday’s practice with an undisclosed issue. So did ILB Tae Crowder (undisclosed), who didn’t travel to New England with the team … Rookies CB Rodarius Williams and RB Gary Brightwell were both on the field after leaving Thursday’s practice early. … No one was absent Friday. All players were on the field or sideline. But a laundry list of injured players rehabbed with trainers: guard Shane Lemieux (knee), edge Elerson Smith (hamstring), CBS Aaron Robinson (core muscle, PUP) and Josh Jackson (undisclosed), DT Danny Shelton (undisclosed), WRS Austin Mack (hamstring) and John Ross (hamstring). And Toney and Golladay did nothing but stand and watch.