On their injury report for Week 16, the New York Giants included 13 players, some of whom were starters. Dexter Lawrence (hamstring) and Rakeem Nunez-Roches (knee) are two of the five defensive lineman who missed practice on Friday. Due to the injuries to Nunez-Roches and Lawrence, the Giants’ defensive line is so weak that they had to steal Timmy Horne from the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad in order to add depth. The harm to Lawrence is alarming. After missing his first career game due to an injury in Week 12, he was only able to practice little for the subsequent two weeks. Since then, Lawrence has played the previous two games with a pitch count.
Although head coach Brian Daboll does not yet want to rule out Lawrence for the game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the fact that he hasn’t been able to progress this week and didn’t practice yesterday casts doubt on his availability. The tight end Lawrence Cager (groin), safety Xavier McKinney (sickness), and offensive tackle Evan Neal (ankle) are also listed as having “did not practice” in addition to Lawrence and Nunez-Roches. Neal, who was out for the all of last week but was declared iffy for the game, ultimately ended up inactive, suggesting that he may have encountered another obstacle in his return to the field. Neal did not practice on Wednesday, much like Lawrence and Nunez-Roches.
Four players were classified by the Giants as limited: punter Jamie Gillan (left groin), defensive linebacker Carter Coughlin (neck), running back Matt Breida (hamstring), and defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson (back). Gillan was hurt during last week’s game against the Saints, but it’s unclear precisely when it happened. Gillan had to handle place-kicking responsibilities in addition to punting when Randy Bullock pulled his hamstring. But in the game’s second half, Gillan did appear to be moving a touch slowly. The entire participation list included guard Justin Pugh (calf/neck), tight end Darren Waller (hamstring), running back Gary Brightwell (hamstring/DTR), and tackle Matt Peart (shoulder/DTR).
This week, Brightwell and Peart’s 21-day windows opened following their designations to return from injured reserve. Pugh’s neck injury is new; last week, he was battling with a calf issue. And the Giants are counting on Waller, who returned to action last week after sitting out five games due to a hamstring injury, to play well for the remainder of the season.
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