WR Campbell ‘shocked’ and ‘hurt’ by first career healthy scratch
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Giants wide receiver Parris Campbell was crushed by being made a healthy scratch on Monday night for the first time in his career.
“Yeah, I definitely was shocked,” Campbell told the Daily News on Wednesday. “Shoot, I was more so just hurt, more than anything… hurt that I know what I put into it each and every week. And to be inactive for the first time in my career was definitely hurtful, was definitely shocking. A lot of different emotions [are] going on, for sure.”
Campbell said he was at least “grateful” that the Giants’ brass gave him the bad news on Sunday, more than 24 hours before their win over the Packers, rather than letting him find out on gameday. Not that it made him feel any better about the end result.
“I was grateful for that, because they respected me enough to tell me early enough, and it wasn’t a blindside shock right before the game,” he said. “So I 100 percent respected that. That doesn’t take any hurt away or any pain or frustration away from it, but I definitely respected that.”
Still, Campbell, 26, said the news was “frustrating” and “also I kinda really didn’t understand it.”
He said the Giants’ rationale was that “it was a numbers game” and they “needed to bring some guys up on defense” because “some guys were on a pitch count.”
That’s the same reason head coach Brian Daboll gave publicly on Tuesday: that the Giants had to make defensive tackle Jordon Riley active and “have some backup plans” on defense due to pitch counts for banged-up tackles Dexter Lawrence and A’shawn Robinson and linebacker Isaiah Simmons.
But Campbell had added some juice as the Giants’ kick returner since asking on to the special teams unit in Week 6 to find some way to contribute. And the former Ohio State standout and Colts second-round pick has always been a factor when healthy. So he never foresaw this.
In his stead, the rookie draft pick Riley played nine defensive snaps and five on special teams; rookie running back Eric Gray logged one offensive snap and six on special teams; and veteran wideout Sterling Shepard did not play a snap despite being active.
Punt returner Gunner Olszewski returned kicks in his place and fair-caught the only two he fielded. Tight end Lawrence Cager unwisely touched the other one before it went out of bounds just before halftime.
“It’s tough for me just because I’ve never been in this position,” said Campbell, who signed a one-year deal here as a free agent after a 63-catch, 623-yard, three-td season with the Colts. “I’ve always been a guy who has contributed in some way on gameday, whether that’s being a starter at receiver or just playing returner or getting a few limited snaps. But I’ve never been a guy just healthy scratched in street clothes. That one humbles you a little bit different[ly].”
Campbell knew first-hand that special teams coordinator Thomas Mcgaughey believed he was excelling as the team’s kick returner, too.
Campbell, who rarely came off the field as a mainstay on the first-team offense during the spring and summer, had seen his playing time on offense plummet beginning in Week 3 at San Francisco. He has 20 catches for 104 yards on 27 targets the whole season.
So he approached the coaches to ask on as their kick returner to provide a spark. Since, he had taken eight kicks back for 191 yards and an average of 23.9 yards, with a long of 36.
“Yeah 100 percent, [I got good feedback] from everybody, especially Tmac, just each and every week giving the offense a spark, giving them good field position,” Campbell said. “I kind of wanted to take on that role to help out. My role had diminished from Week 1 and 2 [on offense], so I was just trying to find ways to help the team and get back on the field.
“I thought it was going good,” he added. “Tmac voiced to me that it was going good, as well. And it kinda started to build this thing with the guys on kick return like, ‘Yo, we’re getting close to taking one to the house.’ It was going good. I was excited about being a kick returner. I was just trying to give the team a spark.”
Mcgaughey said the same thing himself in mid-november when asked how close he thought the Giants might be to breaking a kick return.
“I was telling the guys today we’re getting better and better on that unit,” Mcgaughey said then. “Parris has been a big help to us coming back there. Obviously, he provides a lot of speed and he’s a good, strong runner. We’re getting closer and closer.”
On Thursday, Mcgaughey reiterated that “Parris is a hell of a football player” and “you don’t ever want to take a guy like that off the field, but that’s what the situation called for.”