The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Giants’ Marshall laments poor start to season
Wide receiver has one of worst two-game stretches in career
NEW YORK — Brandon Marshall interrupted his chess game with teammate J.T. Thomas on Thursday to talk to reporters. The wide receiver was asked which piece on the board would best represent him on the football field.
“Pawn,” he said quickly, “because I’m getting smacked right now.”
It has not been an auspicious start to the season for Marshall, who came to the Giants as a free agent this offseason. In his first two games, he has caught two passes on nine targets for 27 yards. That is the worst production he has had over a two-game span in any season since he played sporadically as a rookie. The only stretch that comes close was in 2014 with the Bears when he caught three passes for 25 yards over two games, but one of those was for a touchdown.
“It is an unusual position,” Marshall said. “In the past I always kind of started decent or hot and have been able to help the team. So far I haven’t been able to help the way I wanted to, or to meet expectations. But we’ll figure it out and we’ll get it going.”
Marshall insists that he does not have to catch a lot of passes to be effective, so he does not consider his one-reception performance in the opener to be a bad game. Monday’s loss to the Lions, though, was a different story. He had an opportunity there to make a big catch down the right sideline and dropped it.
If the rest of the offense were humming along, such a miscue might be barely noticeable. On a team that is starving for any positives on offense, it stands out as a squandered opportunity.
“The team needed a big play, I had an opportunity to make a big play, and I didn’t,” Marshall said. “You need that type of play-making ability, you need that type of excitement, and things will change.”
Marshall is confident he can still provide that. At 33, he pointed out that the tracking devices the team uses to monitor player