Giants Take Test Against Luck, Colts and Look to Get Healthy

The Giants had were a busy group in camp this week. They almost lost their veteran safety in Antrel Rolle, they got veterans Chris Snee and Terrell Thomas back in practice and they have also worked on some trickery.

Today we do an injury update and a preview of Sunday’s game against Indianapolis.

Here is what you can expect from Giants camp on a daily basis.

• Monday – Quaterbacks, Offensive Line
• Tuesday – Running Backs, Linebackers
• Wednesday – Wide Receivers, Defensive Backs
• Thursday – Tight Ends, Defensive Linemen, Adds/Drops
• Friday – Injury Upadates, Preseason Game Preview

Injury Updates

Antrel Rolle – Ankle – The Giants safety and the leader of the group of defensive backs gave everyone a major scare when he came down awkwardly on his ankle on Monday. Rolle was in a walking boot on Tuesday and his right calf was visibly swollen (see picture). However, Rolle was walking around without the boot on Wednesday and saying thing’s like it feels a ‘million times’ better and that boots are ‘for the wimps.’ Rolle sees it as a sure thing that he will be back before week 1 and that seems to be the case. 

Justin Tuck – Back – Tuck returned to practice this week after missing the preseason opener against Pittsburgh. Tuck said the back “feels just great” and that he “definitely” expects to play this weekend against Indianapolis. Tuck’s back didn’t keep him out long and the issue seems to be behind him.

Chris Snee – Hip – is at a stage where he is taking two out of ever four reps in practice. Snee was just activated off the physically unable to perform list on Tuesday, Aug. 6 and is already looking good when he gets reps. If they increase his reps modestly over the next few weeks, he could easily be back to 100 percent by Sept. 8, the season opener.

Justin Pugh – Concussion – “He still has a way to go,” said Tom Coughlin on Tuesday. Pugh has also rejoined the team in practice and has been participating in the full contact drills. That means he was cleared by the medical staff, which means he would be eligible to play. Coughlin may have been talking about Pugh’s status on the depth chart, below David Diehl, and not about his injury status.

Rueben Randle – Head – Randle is not expected to miss any significant time. After running down a 50-yard, Randle jumped and got tangled with a pair of defenders and came down hard. When one of the defenders grabbed Randle’s hand and tried to help him up, the receiver remained down for a few seconds but ultimately hopped up before jogging slowly back to his teammates. There was not confirmed diagnosis of a concussion but he was shaken up a bit.

Terrell Thomas – Knee – The cornerback, who hasn’t played since 2010, is finally looking to get back out on the field. “We are taking things more slowly this year,” said Thomas who suffered ACL tears in the same knee in August of 2011 and August of 2012. Thomas is taking half the reps and has been looking good while doing it. If his knee, and specifically that ACL, can stay strong, Thomas becomes another option to play at the cornerback position. It is not likely that Thomas will play this weekend.

Preseason Game Preview

The starters will play more this week than they did last week. That means we can expect to see Eli Manning throw 10-15 passes rather than the five passes he threw last week. The same goes for the defense. The Giants pass rush and defensive backfield will be tested for Andrew Luck for much longer than Ben Roethlisberger tested them last week.

One thing to watch for is the activity by the Giants defensive ends. Justin Tuck, DaMontre Moore, Mathias Kiwinuka and, when he returns, Jason Pierre-Paul are expect to swap sides during games. Theoretically, this would throw blockers off. They wouldn’t know who is lining up across from them until just before the snap, they would have more game planning to do and they wouldn’t have as much time to pick up on tendencies. It will be interesting to see if the Giants employ that tactic this weekend and if it works.

Keep an eye on the running backs for the Giants. David Wilson and Andre Brown looked bad last week against Pittsburgh but this week they are going up against the Indianapolis Colts. Pittsburgh was ranked 2nd in the NFL in stopping the run in 2012 and Indianapolis was ranked 29th. This is an opportunity for Wilson and Brown to get something going. They had success last year but they were also both behind Ahmad Bradshaw last year. This is the first year that either of them have been in the spotlight.

Manning has expressed in the past that getting reps with his receivers in the preseason is important to him. Hakeem Nicks has been in and out of practice throughout camp. Even this weekend, Nicks is no lock to play. All parties involved with the Giants would be happy to see Nicks play and gets some game-speed reps with his quarterback but there always seems to be something keeping the former Tar Heel sidelined.

After Sunday, the Giants face the Jets in week 3 of the preseason. Starters usually don’t play in week 4 of the preseason so time is dwindling down for players to make names for themselves or get on the same page before the season starts.   

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