Giant quits at just 22 over health
GIANTS safety Jadar Johnson, an undrafted rookie free agent from Clemson, retired from football Sunday, citing that “he values his health” as one reason why.
John Urschel, 26, a Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman, retired on Thursday, days after a New York Times report on the prevalence of the degenerative brain disease CTE in the brains of deceased NFL players.
Johnson, 22, did not reference the study in a statement released through his agent to NFL.com, but the science is undoubtedly relevant to locker rooms, including the Giants’.
Safety Nat Berhe, 26, who had a frustrating 2016 season cut short by two concussions, for example is requesting that the NFL let him wear a prescribed “tinted eye shield” for the upcoming season that his brother and agent, Tamerat Berhe, alleges the NFL denied last year — and which he claims could have prevented his brother’s concussions.
“Following a LASIK procedure, the treating physician prescribed a tinted eye shield for @NatBerhe, we forwarded the request to the @NFL,” Tamerat Berhe tweeted recently. “And we were denied twice, @NatBerhe went on to suffer two concussions that could have been prevented with the prescribed tinted shield. We will be submitting another request with the @NFL for a tinted eye shield for the 2017-18 season. A tinted visor would have allowed @NatBerhe to better adjust his positioning on tackles in brightly lit stadiums.”
An NFL spokesman did not respond to an email seeking comment on Thursday. Nat Berhe also wouldn’t discuss the matter on Sunday. “I can’t really talk about that right now, honestly,” Berhe said.
The Giants safety did, however, confirm that the shield would help him with depth perception. And he said CTE and related issues certainly are topics he thinks about. AP
BEN McAdoo must have looked at all of the new toys he has on offense and considered upgrading his diner menu-sized playbook to a full-fledged encyclopedia on the Giants’ sidelines for 2017 — or at least adding that 24-hour breakfast and dessert page to the back.
In Sunday’s third practice of camp, McAdoo showed a tantalizing amount of looks with his first-team offense to demonstrate how his plethora of new personnel may enable him to operate when the real games begin.
Hypothetically, for example, on one snap McAdoo could call the numbers of running back Shane Vereen, wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Odell Beckham Jr., and tight ends Evan Engram and Will Tye. But the next he might switch to runner Paul Perkins, Marshall, Beckham and Sterling Shepard, and tight end Rhett Ellison.
Or Engram might stay in and flank out wide. Or McAdoo could take a receiver or tight end off the field in favor of adding one of his two competing fullbacks, Jacob Huesman or Shane Smith. And on and on.
None of this is revealing any Giants formation secrets. The point is to highlight just how many more variables McAdoo is working with in year two as head coach, and how that might translate to an encouraging level of unpredictability that Eli Manning’s 2016 unit severely lacked.
“If you have the players you feel like that can execute what you need to get done, you use it,” McAdoo said Saturday of his full playbook. “If not, you put it on the shelf and you pick and choose what you use each and every year. We can play doubleheaders for three years with that playbook if we need to. It’s all there if we need it. But we have to let the players determine what we use and what we need.”
With more options, however, comes more pressure for McAdoo, too.
His offense sputtered to a 26th league ranking in points per game last season while rarely deviating from a three wide-receiver set and failing to run the ball. Victor Cruz unforgettably revealed after a Week 5 loss in Green Bay that the Giants offense was struggling to figure out the Cover-2 — one of the basest defenses in the league, with two high safeties.
McAdoo rarely made excuses, but it was no secret that he would have liked a fullback to open more options in the run game, and that he didn’t have the elite skill at tight end or the size at receiver