PLAYER NOTES
–WR Jawill Davis (concussion) did not practice Wednesday. The Giants held a walk-through, so his participation was projected. Davis appears to have lost the punt return duties to Quadree Henderson.
–LB Alec Ogletree (hamstring) is a new addition to the injury report. Ogletree, who didn’t practice Wednesday, tweaked his hamstring Monday night. The Giants held a walk-through, so his participation was projected.
–G Patrick Omameh (knee) was listed as a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice. Omameh missed Monday night’s game but was on his way out of the starting lineup regardless. The Giants held a walk-through, so his participation was projected.
–WR Russell Shepard (neck) was limited in Wednesday’s practice. The Giants held a walk-through, so his participation was projected.
–TE Garrett Dickerson, who was waived last week to make room for the addition of Quadree Henderson, was re-signed to the Giants’ practice squad.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: CB B.W. Webb. With the trade of cornerback Eli Apple, Webb, an NFL journeyman who has played for five teams prior to signing with the Giants this past offseason, presumably moves into the starting left cornerback role. According to Pro Football Focus, Webb has a rating of 89.1, the third highest among Giants defensive backs behind cornerback Janoris Jenkins (127.5) and safety Landon Collins (119.4) but has yet to allow a touchdown in 219 coverage snaps, most as the team’s slot cornerback. Webb moved to the outside when Apple was sidelined for a couple of games with a groin strain, so he’ll see an uptick in his snaps on the outside moving forward.
GAME PLAN: If the Giants are hoping to run the ball much against Washington, that might prove to be a challenge. Washington is currently allowing an average of 87.3 yards per game to opponents on the ground, the third lowest mark in the NFL. The Giants, who despite having Saquon Barkley leading their rushing attack, might want to try to counter Washington’s run defense by deploying some mis-directions in the hopes of catching Washington asleep at the switch.
Defensively, things will be interesting to see how the run defense, which has since unloaded Damon Harrison, a top run stopper, via a trade to the Lions, handle Adrian Peterson. The ageless wonder is currently averaging 4.3 yards per carry, his best mark since 2015 in his final season with the Vikings. The Giants plan to rotate Dalvin Tomlinson and B.J. Hill in the middle where Harrison used to sit and hope that the two younger players show more of a quick twitch in creating congestion when Peterson tries to take it up the gut while at the same time being able to hustle out to the edges if he decides to exploit the perimeter.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Giants RT Chad Wheeler vs. Redskins LOLB Ryan Kerrigan. Wheeler battles hard every week, but he’s rarely a match for the man across from him. This week he’ll likely draw Kerrigan, who leads Washington defenders with 23 total pressures, of which three are sacks. Wheeler, who per Pro Football Focus leads the Giants’ offensive linemen in total number of pressures allowed (24) has only been credited with allowing three sacks this year, but still, look for him to get a lot of help from the tight ends and backs to keep Kerrigan, who has 9.0 career sacks in 14 games against the Giants, away from Eli Manning.
–Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr. vs. Redskins S D.J. Swearinger. The Beckham-Josh Norman matchup is so three years ago, especially given Norman’s struggles. When it comes to Beckham vs. Washington, the matchup to watch is when he moves into the slot, where he’ll likely line up across from Swearinger. Swearinger is probably the best of the Washington defensive backs, having yet to allow any receiver to log more than 54 yards this season. With a very impressive 59.7 NFL rating, Swearinger and friends will look to keep Beckham from recording his second straight 100-yard receiving game and his fifth of the season.
