Dak ready for Collins’ ‘challenge’

The Giants-Cowboys rivalry is heating up thanks to some trash talk between Giants defensive captain Landon Collins and Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

Collins had said on Wednesday that “we’ve just really got to focus on stopping (Dallas running back) Zeke (Elliott), and if we do that and put the ball into Dak’s hands, I think we have a better shot at winning.”

Prescott then issued a response through reporters in Dallas on Thursday.

“Challenge accepted,” Prescott said.

Collins and the Giants defense shut out the Jaguars offense in Sunday’s second half but still lost to Jacksonville, 2015. The Cowboys scored only eight points in their Week 1 defeat at Carolina and didn’t score at all until the fourth quarter on an Elliott four-yard run, with a Prescott run tacked on for the two-point conversion.

The Giants (0-1) and Cowboys (0-1) both are desperate for a win, and the rivalry will play out for the nation to watch on Sunday Night Football.

Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey confirmed he intends to give Kaelin Clay a second chance as the Giants’ punt returner despite Sunday’s muffed punt that cost the offense a chance for a game-winning drive.

“You’re not just going to give him one chance and throw him away,” said McGaughey, whose unit cut Hunter Sharp after two muffed kicks — both recovered by the Giants — and a punt return for a touchdown in the preseason. “There’s a lot of things that happen over the course of the game that we all kind of want to get back, but Kaelin is a pro.”. . . The Giants signed offensive tackle Brian Mihalik to their practice squad and released linebacker Calvin Munson. Mihalik (6-9, 315 pounds), a 2015 Eagles seventh-round pick who played for Shurmur briefly in Philadelphia, was released by the Lions on Sept. 2. The Giants observed him last month when they had three joint practices with the Lions. Mihalik played in 15 games with two starts at left tackle last season for Detroit.