PLAYER NOTES
–LB Olivier Vernon (ankle) did not practice Wednesday but seemed to move well doing agility drills on a side field. The Giants are hoping that Vernon will be able to practice on a limited basis later this week and might be ready for part-time duty this weekend against the Texans.
–CB Eli Apple (groin) did not practice Wednesday. Although the Giants haven’t ruled him out for later in the week, Apple appears to be a long shot to be ready for Sunday’s game. If he can’t play, B.W. Webb will likely get the start in his place, According to Pro Football Focus, Webb’s NFL Rating of 105.2 is the second worst among the Giants cornerbacks, behind Janoris Jenkins’ 109.7.
–FB Elijhaa Penny, signed off the Cardinals practice squad, will take the roster spot that opened went the Giants placed starting center Jon Halapio on injured reserve.
–RB Shane Smith, who struggled last week against Dallas, was waived prior to the start of the team’s practice.
–LB Connor Barwin (knee) did not practice Wednesday. Barwin dealt with a knee issue during the summer that put him on the sideline for about three weeks, but has since had no known issues with his knee until this week
–TE Evan Engram (ankle) was limited in Wednesday’s practice. Engram appeared to tweak his ankle in last week’s loss to the Cowboys.
–WR/PR Kaelin Clay (ankle) was limited in Wednesday’s practice. If Clay can’t go on Sunday, there is a possibility that the Giants will turn to receiver Odell Beckham Jr. as their punt returner.
–WR Stacy Coley was awarded to the Giants off waivers. Coley, 6-0, 195 pounds, had been with the Vikings for the first two weeks of the season. He’s had one pass target so far this year, a pass he dropped in last week’s game against the Packers.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: C John Greco. With starting center Jon Halapio done for the season after suffering a broken ankle in Sunday night’s loss, Greco, a 33-year-old 11-year veteran, will take center stage on the Giants’ offensive line. Greco, who finished up the previous game for Halapio, comes into a precarious situation on an offensive line that has struggled with assignment football and has struggled to gel as a unit. While he is a well-respected veteran, it will be interesting to see how the men next to him — rookie Will Hernandez and Patrick Omameh, the left and right guards respectively — respond. Hernandez is a rookie who at times has had trouble keeping up with the speed of the game. Omameh, a veteran, is trying to establish a comfort level playing on the right side after spending most of his career on the left side.
GAME PLAN: The Texans are currently leading the NFL in rushing, averaging 157.5 yards per game, an effort led by Lamar Miller, who has 166 yards on 34 carries. The Giants’ run defense has picked up where they left off last year against the run, allowing an average of 137.5 yards per game to opponents through two games. And of the 375 rushing yards allowed by the Giants on the ground, 87 of them (23 percent) have been generated by the opposing quarterback.
Whether it’s a bootleg, waggle or rollout, the Giants’ run defense needs to do a better job with its contain. Far too often in these first two games defenders got caught up in the wash, which is leaving the edges wide open for opposing runners to exploit.
Combine that with a rise in missed tackles — the Giants missed 16 tackles over two weeks, according to Pro Football Focus — and you have the main thing the Giants must do to slow down the Texans’ rush, regardless of who is carrying the ball.
“Certainly they’re a good rushing team,” said head coach Pat Shurmur. “Any time you have a quarterback that can attack the perimeter like they have, that puts a little bit more pressure on the rest of the run game, and they’ve got a very good runner. They actually have a couple good runners, and those guys do a good job of running it. There’s no doubt that’s going to be a challenge for us to stop their run.”
As for the pass, the Giants must find a way to threaten the edges against the Texans, who have two relatively young (and struggling) offensive tackles manning the edges and who have combined to allow 23 pressures over two weeks — more than the 16 total pressures the Giants tackles (Nate Solder and Ereck Flowers) have allowed thus far.
Offensively, the Texans have had their struggles defending the run as well, allowing 111 yards per game to opponents, which ranks 21st in the NFL.
The Giants, who are currently averaging 74.5 rushing yards per game (28th in the NFL), need their offensive line to play more consistently in terms of sliding protection and finishing blocks and opening up things at the second level, where, per Football Outsiders, the Giants rank 31st in average second-level yards gained per rush (0.89)
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We’re adjusting all the time. We didn’t play well enough to win. I hope I said that and I’m on the record for that probably 10 times yesterday.” — Head coach Pat Shurmur, when asked if the team is planning any adjustments following an 0-2 start.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Giants Ts Ereck Flowers and Nate Solder vs. Texans edge rushers J.J. Watt and Duke Ejiofor. Flowers held up last week against Cowboys pass rusher DeMarcus Lawrence, doing so mostly without any help. Still, Flowers is currently the runaway leader in total pressures allowed by a Giants offensive lineman with 11. Solder has been a little sharper, allowing just five total pressures, but has also logged two holding penalties in as many games. The Giants’ offensive tackles will get another big test this week in which they will probably see both Watt and the rookie Ejiofor, the latter having an impressive debut last week in place of the injured Jadeveon Clowney. In four pass-rush snaps, Ejiofor recorded one sack and one hurry, prompting Texans head head coach Bill O’Brien to quip that he’d have to get the rookie sixth-rounder some additional snaps in the coming weeks, especially if Clowney and Whitney Mercilus continue their struggles. Watt, meanwhile, is still very much a force; in two games, he’s recorded five total pressures, including a sack, two hits and two hurries.
–Giants edge rushers vs. Texans Ts Martinas Rankin and Julien Davenport. Thanks to injuries on their offensive line, the Texans have had to turn to a pair of relatively untested tackles in Rankin and Davenport, both of whom have struggled to keep the edges clean. Per Pro Football Focus, Rankins and Davenport have combined to allow 23 total pressures, including three sacks, in two games played. The Giants meanwhile are hoping Olivier Vernon returns to the lineup, even if just for a handful of snaps. If Vernon can give them some snaps, and the Giants get some production out of their other edge rushers, most notably veterans Connor Barwin and Kerry Wynn and rookie Lorenzo Carter, who leads the Giants’ edge defenders in pass rushing productivity with a 7.4 rating, it could make for a long afternoon for the Texans offense.
