No rest ... for now
If Ben McAdoo is planning on resting his starters in his team’s meaningless game in Washington Sunday, he hasn’t told them yet. McAdoo didn’t mention the playoffs to his players during meetings and only briefly brought up the subject after the walk-through to say congratulations, according to Justin Pugh. And the possibility of resting? That wasn’t brought up.
“That ain’t even a thought,” Rashad Jennings said. “Nah. We got our rest, we had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday.”
Of course, it’s possible McAdoo may not have told his players that he’s planning on holding some of them out or going to limit their snaps.
But for now, the players are operating like they are playing at full go Sunday.
“I think that if you went in assuming that you weren’t going to play, you would be putting yourself in a bad position,” Pugh said.
Pugh said he wants to play but did recognize there could be a benefit to resting when asked if it might help his knee, which kept him out of a few games earlier this year.
“I think a lot of guys have injuries, bumps and bruises, so I am not the only one that can use a week off,” Pugh said. “I think that everyone in the NFL could use a week off. Everyone could use time to heal up. No one is feeling great right now, but we have to go out there and I would rather have that gel and have that camaraderie keep building than get a week off and lose that.”
A JPP PLAYOFF RETURN?
It’s possible that Jason Pierre-Paul could be back sooner than anticipated. The Giants’ defensive lineman, who had surgery for a sports hernia earlier this month, could return to action as early as the wild-card round, according to an ESPN report. However, the report indicated that Pierre-Paul is more likely to return the following week in the divisional round, if the Giants are still alive.
Pierre-Paul was expected to miss at least six weeks following the surgery, making the NFC Championship Game a more likely return.
Romeo Okwara has filled in admirably for Pierre-Paul, but obviously the return of the star defensive end would be a lift at any point for an already stellar defense.
PRACTICE, PRACTICE
The Giants signed QB Keith Wenning, RB Jacob Huesman and S Ryan Murphy to their practice squad. RB Russell Hansbrough and S Christian Bryant were signed off the Giants’ practice squad by other teams.