Richburg shrugs off Pro Bowl miss
The Giants are 68, and only one of their players — Odell Beckham Jr. — was voted into the Pro Bowl, but they certainly could have had another. Center Weston Richburg has been a bright spot, but he did not even get consideration as an alternate.
“I told myself I wasn’t going to be disappointed,’’ Richburg said Wednesday. “I feel nobody really knows who I am. Maybe because it’s my first year at center. I feel I played well enough. My main focus is contributing to my team. That’s going to be my first and foremost priority.’’
Asked if he felt he performed well enough to make the Pro Bowl, Richburg said: “From what I did, I thought I played well.’’ Offensive coordinator Ben
McAdoo, on what went down with Beckham against the Panthers: “We work in a professional environment, and when something gets personal that way, it affects the entire offense. Obviously, it affected Odell’s performance and affected the offensive performance and became a distraction.’’
If the Redskins beat the Eagles on Saturday night in Philadelphia, the Giants are eliminated from playoff contention before they take the field against Minnesota.
“I’m not even going there,” guard Justin Pugh said. “I’m sending all positive vibes out there that the Redskins are gonna lose. We’re gonna do what we need to do. That’s the approach I got to take.”
Does that mean Pugh is an Eagles fan?
“No, I can’t say that,’’ he said. “I hope the Redskins lose. I can’t cheer for Philly. I don’t like them.’’
With Beckham serving a onegame suspension this weekend, the Giants need Dwayne
Harris to play a prominent role as a receiver. There’s a problem, though: Harris is not healthy. He has a shoulder injury, did not practice on Wednesday and had his left arm in a sling.
LB Devon Kennard (foot), DT Markus Kuhn (knee) and safety Cooper Taylor (concussion) also did not practice. RB
Orleans Darkwa (illness) and DE George Selvie (concussion) were limited, with Selvie
kept out of contact drills.
The Giants are so desperate for bodies on defense that a week after releasing Brandon Meriweather, they resigned him because they were down to only two healthy safeties with Taylor out of commission. Meriweather started the first 11 games for the Giants this season.
Rookie Landon Collins and veteran Craig Dahl started last week’s game at safety. Meriweather took the roster spot belonging to Nikita Whitlock, who was put on injured reserve after he hurt his knee in the game.
Whitlock, a rare threeway player, was on the field against the Panthers for seven snaps at fullback, 10 snaps at defensive tackle and 23 on special teams.