The Giants have lost two more players to COVID protocols, as both safety J.R. Reed and practice squad safety Natrell Jamerson tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and will likely miss Sunday’s game against Dallas.
Those two results, as well as some other illness related to the flu going through the Giants’ facility, spurred the Giants to heavily modify what should have been their final full practice ahead of Sunday’s game.
“We came in this morning and we had the players using our indoor facility that we set up as a meeting facility since the beginning of COVID last year. Everything's been approved by the league. We started the day out in the bubble and we started out in position meetings,” head coach Joe Judge said Friday afternoon. “As the meetings are starting, we're getting alerts on a couple new positives that came up today along with several players who came up with flu symptoms. At that time, we deemed the best thing for the players was to end the meetings. We went immediately outside, did a brief walkthrough that lasted about a half hour outside with the players masked and spaced out when they weren't involved. When that was done, we sent them home and we Zoomed for about an hour and a half.”
Reed and Jamerson now make eight Giants players on the reserve/COVID-19 list, along with receivers Kadarius Toney and John Ross, edge rusher Oshane Ximenes, linebacker Cam Brown, Xavier McKinney, and Aaron Robinson.
The latter two names make Reed and Jamerson’s additions especially troubling, as the Giants were down to just five DBs for Friday’s walk-through, one of which was Logan Ryan, who already missed time this season due to COVID.
“You've got to do what's asked upon you, I'm sure the coaches and management will try to get some more healthy legs in there if possible,” Ryan said when asked about that dearth of bodies in the defensive backfield. “But just because Zay (McKinney) didn't practice, that doesn't mean he won't play. You've got to see what you've got. I would say I've never had any experience like this, but we played through last year and the experience of just going in completely unknown of who's playing, who may be there, who may not.”
The Giants will have Saquon Barkley “good to go” and wide receiver Sterling Shepard back from injury to mitigate the losses on offense, but if none of the DBs clear protocols, their only in-house option for reinforcement is practice squad cornerback Jarren Williams, who would likely be elevated to join the quintet of Ryan, Julian Love, James Bradberry, Keion Crossen, and Steven Parker.
“This is something that everyone in the league's dealing with. This is a pandemic that is out of our hands, and you have to be willing to adapt,” Ryan said. “The Cowboys aren't going to care about how many DBs we've got or whatever that may be. You've got to be prepared, to go play the game and go win the game.”
“We're talking through a lot of moves that could happen defensively and schematically, things we have to do to make sure we can adjust Judge added. “Right now, there are some things in the air. We'll know a little bit more tomorrow in terms of guys like Zay when his five days of testing are up and see where he's at. We'll go ahead and make any necessary adjustments we have to.”
The NFL released a memo on Thursday with new instructions on COVID prevention measures, and Judge detailed how the Giants will continue preparing for a potential shortfall on Saturday.
“We'll bring the players back in here tomorrow more in the afternoon, which will take the place of our Saturday meetings,” Judge said. “We won't do anything at the hotel tomorrow. We'll just meet here, we'll have a brief walkthrough on the field, we'll make sure that everybody's in an environment where it's spaced out and open air, and continue with our process getting ready for the game.”
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