Thursday Big Blues

THURSDAY Night Football has been part of a player safety debate recently, with some players criticizing the mid-week games as too short of a time to recover and prepare properly. The Giants will get their Thursday night game this week when they face Washington on Thanksgiving night and some players admitted it is tougher, but stopped short of criticizing the league.

“That might be out of my pay grade right there,” Olivier Vernon, the Giants’ $85 million defensive end, chuckled. "Honestly, when it comes to player safety, playing the game once out of the week it takes a toll on your body. Shortening it down, you know, I don’t know. You just got to get ready and at the end of the day, the other team, (Washington), they got to get ready because they’re playing too.”

Eli Manning said it doesn’t affect him too much, but admitted that it makes things difficult for some players.

“I understand it is tough on the players especially late in the year,” Manning said. “Linemen, defensive linemen, linebackers, guys who are hitting. For me, the recovery process is not as tough as the other guys, but it is tough on the players.”

INJURY REPORT

Five players did not practice on Tuesday: offensive linemen Fluker (toe) and Pugh (back), linebackers B.J. Goodson (ankle) and Calvin Munson (quad) and wideout Sterling Shepard (migraines). Limited were running back Orleans Darkwa (hamstring), defensive linemen Damon Harrison (ankle), Dalvin Tomlinson (ankle), Jason Pierre-Paul (knee) and Olivier Vernon (shoulder), and linebacker Kelvin Shepard (groin).

— with Pat Leonard