SAFETY VALVE
Big Blue must exploit Eagles’ banged-up secondary
EAST RUTHERFORD » The quickest remedy for the Giants’ offense on Sunday could be their opponent’s availability. The Eagles listed five defensive backs on their injury report Thursday. Four, including three safeties, have not practiced this week.
Top cornerback Ronald Darby is out until at least October with a dislocated ankle. Starting strong safety Rodney McLeod could miss “a few weeks” with a hamstring injury suffered last Sunday against the Chiefs, according to a report by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The Giants notice. But with their own internal issues right now, they simply don’t see much reason to pay close mind.
“Doesn’t really matter who’s in there. We’ve got to execute and do our part,” wide receiver Sterling Shepard said. “It’s the NFL. You’ve got guys that can go. Everybody can play in this league, so you can’t look at is as, ‘Oh, this man’s down.’ The next guy’s gonna step up. He’s gonna be out there. We’ve got to execute what we’re doing.”
The Giants (0-2), as a whole, have not. They have one total touchdown through two weeks. Their 13 points are the franchise’s fewest this early into a season since 1947. And they have not reached 20 points for eight consecutive games dating back to last November versus the Browns.
The G-Men currently 28th in the NFL in total offense, a far cry from what second-year head coach Ben McAdoo’s bunch envisioned entering a season with Super Bowl aspirations after last year’s 11-5 campaign.
“We’re not paying attention to what everybody’s saying on the outside of the building,” Shepard said. “A lot of times I don’t think that they understand what we go through. All we can do is control what we can control, and that’s get better every week. We’ve got to fix some stuff that we’ve been doing these past two weeks.”
For one, the Giants should have their superstar receiver back to full-go in Philadelphia. Odell Beckham Jr. conveyed as much after being limited in Monday’s loss to the Lions, his first game since a monthlong rehab from a high-ankle sprain.
Playing 34 of the team’s 56 snaps, Beckham was targeted five times and grabbed four receptions for 36 yards. He expects to play nearly every snap while likely matched up often with Eagles corner Jalen Mills, Beckham’s former college teammate at LSU.
“I came out straight. I didn’t have any setbacks or anything like that,” Beckham said of his season debut. “My mind is on another level. I feel like I can take over a game at any time no matter ankle, anything like that. So it’s just a matter of getting those opportunities and making the most of them.”
This is a critical week for the Giants’ receivers to create separation from defenders quickly given that the offensive line is still struggling and the Eagles boast one of the fiercer front sevens in football. New York has yielded eight sacks, and Philadelphia has sacked opponents eight times.
Of the 23 receptions by wide receivers in two games, only one was for at least 20 yards. Brandon Marshall has only two catches. Tight end Evan Engram is the team’s leading target (93 yards) thus far.
“I think we’ll see a little bit more man (coverage) than what we’ve been seeing, especially as we get closer to the goal-line,” Shepard said of the Eagles. “We’ve been seeing a lot of two-high (safeties) these past two weeks.”
The Giants will look to exploit that Sunday — even though who exactly plays alongside Malcolm Jenkins and company for Philadelphia is a bit of a mystery right now.
“Obviously you have to understand the guy you’re going against: his tendencies, what he likes to do and maybe where he’s challenged,” Marshall said. “So you just have to dig deep, maybe go through some preseason film, but our staff does an amazing job of pulling up what we need.”
Injury Report
Beckham remained a limited, non-contact participant in practice Thursday as a precaution. The same went for Engram, who entered the concussion protocol on Wednesday as a “precautionary measure,” a team spokesman said.
Three defensive starters — middle linebacker B.J. Goodson (shin), cornerback Janoris Jenkins (ankle) and right tackle Bobby Hart (ankle) — have not practiced this week and have unknown statuses for Sunday at this point. Linebacker J.T. Thomas also has not participated with a groin injury.
On the positive front for the Giants, linebacker Keenan Robinson was a full participant in Thursday’s practice for the first time since he entered the concussion protocol for a second time Aug. 18 during the preseason. Robinson, a key component of the Giants’ sub packages, expects to make his season debut Sunday.