ENGRAM OUT AGAIN
Short week won’t help Saquon
Daniel Jones will be without tight end Evan Engram for a second straight game tonight at Washington. Engram was Jones’ favorite target during an outstanding training camp for the fifth-year tight end. He’d played in all 16 games in 2020 for the first time in his career, and he was commanding the middle of the field in camp.
But a left calf injury in the preseason finale against the Patriots now has Engram sitting out at least two games to open the regular season.
Engram had sat out the final joint practice in New England on Aug. 26 before getting hurt in the exhibition game at MetLife Stadium on Aug. 29.
Coach Joe Judge had been hopeful to get Engram back for Week 2. The tight end looked improved on the field the past couple days. But now he’ll have to wait until Week 3 against the Falcons at the earliest to make his season debut.
“I know he’s been pushing,” Judge said Tuesday. “He had a real good day of rehab the other day, moving along. He’s making a lot of jumps in terms of how he’s working.”
BARKLEY LISTED AS QUESTIONABLE
Giants RB Saquon Barkley (right knee) is listed as questionable for a second straight game. He is expected to play, but it’s not clear
OTHER INJURY NOTES
s how much he’ll be able to do.
He just played in his first NFL game since September of 2020, when he tore the ACL and partially tore the meniscus in his knee. He didn’t look like himself in Sunday’s loss to Denver. And now he’s playing in another game four days later.
“I don’t think the schedule is ideal for coming back off a major knee injury to have two games back-toback, but that’s what it is,” Barkley said Tuesday. “That’s what’s in front of me and that’s the challenge I have to face.”
Guard Shane Lemieux (knee) and linebacker Cam Brown (hamstring) also are out tonight. Lemieux, who has a partially torn patellar tendon in his knee, started in Week 1 but played only three series before he was permanently replaced by Ben Bredeson in Bredeson’s Giants debut. Brown doesn’t play defense but logged 11 special-teams plays against Denver . ... Washington is starting backup QB Taylor Heineke. Week 1 starter Ryan Fitzpatrick is on injured reserve with a hip injury he suffered in the opening loss to the Chargers. RB Antonio Gibson, whose fumble cost Washington the game on Sunday, was limited on Monday but was upgraded to a full participant and came off the injury report by Wednesday.