McAdoo unhappy with 'inexcusable' replay mess
Ben McAdoo is clearly upset about losing a player to a serious injury on a play that did not count and should never have been run late in Saturday night’s 32-31 preseason victory over the Jets.
“Inexcusable,’’ McAdoo said Sunday.
On the first play after the twominute warning, the Jets trailed 32-25 when Christian Hackenberg hit ArDarius Stewart, who was tiptoeing the right sideline, for a 19-yard completion. The Jets, out of timeouts, rushed to the line and on the next play, Hackenberg was hit by safety Ryan Murphy, the ball came loose and the Giants recovered with 1:49 remaining. On the field, the play was ruled an incomplete pass. On the play, rookie defensive end Evan Schwan got his leg rolled up on and had to be carted off the field.
That play actually did not count and does not exist in the official play-by-play of the game. The game officials were late alerting the teams that the replay officials’ office in Manhattan wanted to review the Stewart catch to determine if he was in-bounds. The replay office ruled the catch was good and the turnover was wiped out, too late to prevent the injury to Schwan, who suffered a fractured foot.
A day later, McAdoo was steamed.
“Well, New York decided to stop the play, felt there was enough time to get the play stopped,’’ McAdoo said. “The communication didn’t happen fast enough from New York to the playing field and they let the play
go on, should have been sack, fumble, end of the ballgame. We ended up having a player get carted off the field on it, which is inexcusable, to have a play that didn’t count and never existed, to have a player get hurt and carted off the field. That’s the explanation I got.’’
The starting offensive linemen played 33 snaps, but right guard John Jerry got just nine as he was replaced after the first series by Brett Jones. Jerry was beaten by Sheldon
Richardson on the first series, causing a hit on Eli Manning.
“We tripped in pass protection, that led to an interception,’’ McAdoo said. As far as lineup changes, he added “We’re going to continue to evaluate.’’
Schwan, an extreme long shot to make the roster, would have re- ceived playing time in the preseason finale Thursday night. Instead, he was waived/injured. With several cornerbacks injured, the Giants were awarded CB Tay Glover-Wright off waivers from the Eagles.
It looks as if the kicking derby will go down to the wire. Rookie
Aldrick Rosas is 4-for-4 in the preseason, with a long field goal of 52 yards. Veteran Mike Nugent is 5-for-5 and against the Jets nailed field goals of 50 and 54 yards.
“I can’t speak for Aldrick, but I think both of us are doing a great job of coming in and doing our job when it is our turn,’’ Nugent said.
“We got one heck of a competition at the kicker spot,’’ McAdoo said.
DT Jay Bromley came out of the game with a sprained knee. CB Eli Apple sprained his other ankle — he had been slowed with a sprain prior to this. Safety
Duke Ihenacho also has a knee sprain. … The Giants return to practice Monday, with WRs Odell Beckham Jr. (ankle) and Brandon Marshall (shoulder) unlikely to participate. “We’ll get up in the morning and see how they respond to what’s going on medically, the treatment they’re getting and if they’re able to go we’ll practice them,’’ McAdoo said.
The battle for the backup quarterback job remains open, as McAdoo said neither Geno
Smith nor Josh Johnson has separated himself.
“We’re still not in a position to say who the number two is,’’ McAdoo said. “Thursday night we’re hoping it cleans itself up.’’