Big Blue’s offense loses starting center for season
Continuity on the offensive line continues to elude the Giants.
New York announced Monday that starting center Jon Halapio suffered fractures to his lower leg and ankle in the loss to the Cowboys on Sunday night and is out for the season.
Head coach Pat Shurmur said that John Greco, who filled in for Halapio during the second half, is the new starter. Spencer Pulley, whom the Giants claimed off waivers from the Chargers on Sept. 2, will also be in the mix for playing time.
The 0-2 Giants came into the season with a rebuilt line of five new starters, hopeful to shore up the issues that have plagued the franchise in recent years. Halapio’s injury again complicates the Giants’ quest to build chemistry up front.
Quarterback Eli Manning was sacked six times Sunday as stunts and blitzes by the Cowboys frequently led to missed assignments on the offensive line and in the Giants’ backfield.
“I think our guys were prepared. We were well aware of the fact they have been a defensive front that moves quite a bit,” Shurmur said. “They have done it for years, that’s their style. We were aware of it and some of the pressures we practiced. I think we had a hat for them in most occasions. One time we had it picked up and we just didn’t slide through it. We’ve just got to do a better job. I don’t think we faced anything we hadn’t seen. We’ve just got to be cleaner with our blocks. They got on our edges a little bit too much.”
Halapio, 27, spent much of the past two seasons on the Giants’ practice squad. This summer, he finally earned a spot on the 53-man roster coming out of training camp and leapfrogged Brett Jones as the starting center. Jones was traded to Minnesota on Aug. 26 for a 2019 seventhround draft pick.
Greco, an 11th-year veteran, has started 70 games in his career.
“I just feel for him that all that hard work and to have something like this happen,” defensive tackle Damon Harrison said of Halapio. “He had a great summer, a great offseason. Actually the last couple of years, he was doing great things and was able to crack the starting lineup. I feel for him because he did everything right. He did everything that was asked of him.”
The Giants are currently a six-point underdog entering their Week 3 matchup at Houston, according to Vegas Insider. They begin preparations while dealing with familiar offensive problems.
New York has scored fewer than 20 points in 10 of its last 12 games dating back to last season. The Giants averaged 3.8 yards per play against the Cowboys, and 108 of their 255 total yards came in the final 5:45 while Dallas was nursing a 20-3 lead.
The Giants did not even cross midfield until the second half. The running game never found a rhythm (35 yards on 17 carries) and the passing game settled for screens and underneath routes much of the night as the Cowboys’ game plan featured Cover 2 zone looks.
“It’s a combination of things,” Manning said. “Sometimes they’re going to rush four and then drop and try to get into zones, so in those situations, you’ve got to be patient and sometimes you’ve got to take check downs and get six-seven yards, and that’s fine. You can do that and get down the field and have third and manageable, but we had our shots to take down the field when they brought pressure.
“If they’re bringing pressure, that should open up some things down the field. Then you’ve got to block it up and have time to push it down there. On the times when they brought the pressure and we had some guys open, we just didn’t have the amount of time to push it down there.”
Running back Saquon Barkley rushed 11 times for 28 yards. But he totaled more than 100 yards for the second straight week by tying the franchise record for receptions with 14 for 80 yards.
“We kind of had some play actions and different things called, they did a good job taking away some things,” Manning said. “I went through my progressions and saw things clearly, had to take some check downs a few times and we had some other opportunities when we didn’t have some guys open, some of the pressures, and everybody’s just got to play a little bit better and we’ve got to hang in there and make some plays.”
Shurmur had no update on cornerback Eli Apple, who left Sunday’s game with a groin injury.
“We’ll know more tomorrow,” Shurmur said.