To play ... or not
Will Eli Manning play? Will Saquon Barkley? Will (drumroll, please) Odell Beckham Jr.?
Coach Pat Shurmur did not answer those questions Tuesday morning, declining to reveal his player deployment for Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Browns at MetLife Stadium.
“Every player will receive the consideration necessary, with regard to their play time,’’ Shurmur said.
Last year, Manning did not play in the first preseason game. He has said he would like to play some, as this is a new offense and Shurmur is a new play-caller. All Shurmur would say about using his marquee players, and all others, was “I think you have to give them what they need,’’
Beckham is coming off surgery to repair a fractured left ankle. He is running freely in training camp and said he no longer feels the injury when he is on the field. If he plays, figure it will be a handful of plays at most.
“I have a general blueprint in my brain as to how much I want guys to play and it changes as we go through preseason depending on where they’re at,’’ Shurmur said. “You’d like to see them do something and then you see how it plays out.’’
Every rookie has something he wants to show, something he wants to prove. B.J. Hill is no exception. The third-round pick from North Carolina State has emerged through the spring and into the summer as a starting defensive tackle.
“Everything from stopping the run, being physical, playing angry to rushing the passer, too, as well.’’ Hill said. “People say I can’t rush, but I can. I want to show people that I can do it all on first down, second and third down.’’
Hill had nine sacks in four years at N.C. State, with a career-high 5.5 in his senior year. Veteran defensive tackle Damon “Snacks’’ Harrison recently called Hill the most athletic defensive lineman on the team.
“I’m going to bring whatever I’ve got to the table, to each game,’’ Hill said. “Pass rush, stopping the run, all of it.’’
After practice, the Giants players walked over to the stands and greeted the Army football team. The Black Knights were not allowed on the field — it is against NCAA rules to give preferential treatment to the athletes — and so Shurmur wanted to sa- lute the Army squad with this gesture.
Shurmur said he has “a fondness in my heart for the academies’’ and added coming out of high school, he earned an appointment to the Naval Academy but turned it down. Shurmur said he wanted to captain a battleship “and shoot the guns and do all that stuff ’’ did not want to become an engineer and so he instead attended Michigan State.