Making a mark
UConn’s Peart has promising first start with Giants, Boyle making late cameos in Packers games and more local updates
UConn’s Matt Peart has worked his way into the coaches’ good graces and onto the field for the Giants, getting his first NFL start Sunday.
“Matt’s a guy that’s shown a lot of improvement in the way he works in practice,” Giants coach Joe Judge told reporters following the 20-19 win over Washington. “We’ve seen it from the team periods, the individual one-on-one pass rush periods. He’s shown progress in the games and the action he’s seen. … I think he did a good enough job. I have confidence to put him on the field.”
Andrew Thomas, the Giants’ first-round pick, had been starting at left tackle but was benched due to an unspecified violation of team rules and split snaps with Peart, drafted in the third round. Peart proved to be the highest-grading offensive player in the first win of the season for the Giants (1-5), allowing only one quarterback pressure all day. He played the first quarter, after which the Giants led 10-0.
“He did a great job for us,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “Matt is a guy who has come in here and improved every day. He’s a guy whohas a great approach to the game and to his work, and [he] certainly has a lot of talent too. He played big for us [Sunday] and we all certainly have a lot of confidence in him.”
Peart, a four-year starter at UConn, is still a raw talent, but scouts were impressed with his long (36 ⅝-inch) arms. At 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, he could be a prototype NFLleft tackle, and he seems to be coming along quicker than expected. Judge left the door open to starting Peart versus the Eagles on Thursday night.
Here’s an update on others from UConn, or with Connecticut ties, who saw NFL action recently:
Isaiah Wright
Wright, a Waterbury native and Kingswood Oxford grad and an undrafted free agent, broke into the Washington lineup, getting his first start at wide receiver Oct. 1 and catching four passes for 24 yards against the Browns.
“I just breathe and I pray and that’s what helps me poise myself and calm my nerves,” Wright told a Washington TV station. “Once I calm my nerves, like I said, it’s just the game. Play football and everything will come.”
After catching four more passes for 25 yards against the Giants on Sunday, Wright has 13 receptions for 72 yards in four games.
Jack Driscoll
Driscoll, from Hand-Madison, made his first start Sunday for the Eagles but was carted off with an ankle injury. Driscoll probably won’t be ready to return for the Eagles game against the Giants on Thursday, but he made a strong first impression.
Byron Jones
The Pro Bowl cornerback from UConn, who moved from Dallas to Miami as a free agent, returned to the lineup Oct. 11 as the Dolphins beat the 49ers 43-17. Jones had been out with a groin injury.
With Jones and Xavien Howard in the backfield together, Miami held the Niners to 128 passing yards and shut out the Jets this past Sunday.
Anthony Sherman
The Pro Bowl fullback from UConn, in his 10th NFL season, Sherman was placed on the Chiefs’ COVID-19 reserve list due to exposure rather than a positive test.
Tim Boyle, A.J. Dillon
The Packers backup quarterback, from Xavier-Middletown and UConn, Boyle has gotten into four of the last five games to take a knee and finish off a blowout win, or, as was the case versus Tampa Bay on Sunday, a blowout loss.
Boyle took three snaps versus the Bucs and had the ball stripped on a sack but recovered his own fumble.
Dillon, the New London native and former Boston College star, is seeing limited action at running back with the Packers, whotook him in the second round. He has 13 carries for 65 yards in five games.
Ryan Griffin, Folorunso Fatukasi
Griffin, the veteran tight end from UConn has five catches for 27 yards for the Jets.
Another former Husky, Fatukasi, could get more playing time with the winless Jets at nose tackle now that Steve McLendon has been traded to the Bucs.