PERSONNEL NEWS

Strategy And Personnel

The Sports Xchange

October 11, 2018 at 3:02 am.

PLAYER NOTES

–T Brian Mihalik was signed to the Giants 53-man roster following the Ereck Flowers transaction. Head coach Pat Shurmur said that Mihalik will be the team’s swing tackle starting this Thursday when the Giants host the Eagles.

–TE Rhett Ellison (foot) was limited Tuesday after having been projected to not practice Monday. Ellison should be good to go for Thursday’s game, though it remains to be seen if he carries a full workload.

–K Aldrick Rosas (right quad) has not practiced this week due to a quad strain. Head coach Pat Shurmur seemed optimistic that Rosas would be OK for Thursday’s game, but just in case he’s not, the team added kicker Marshall Koehn, who was with them in the summer, to the practice squad.

–WR Russell Shepard (neck) did not practice Tuesday after being projected as limited on Monday. Having played the team’s third receiver role last week, Shepard’s status for Thursday night is unclear.

–WR Jawill Davis (shoulder) was upgraded to full participation in Tuesday’s practice after being listed as limited on Monday. Davis, who was the team’s kickoff returner last week, should be good to go Thursday night.

–TE Evan Engram (knee) was limited in practice this week. Both Engram and head coach Pat Shurmur had been highly optimistic about Engram’s chances of playing Thursday night, but he was declared out Wednesday.

–DL Josh Mauro (groin) is listed on the injury report with a groin strain, but he was upgraded to full participation in practice Tuesday and expects to be ready to go Thursday night.

–LB Connor Barwin (knee) received his weekly maintenance day but is not expected to miss Thursday’s game.

–LB Olivier Vernon (ankle) was limited this week in practice and when he wasn’t listed on Wednesday’s injury report, it makes it appear he will be able to make his season debut Thursday night.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: LB Olivier Vernon. The Giants will finally welcome the outside linebacker into the mix Thursday night. Vernon, who in the spring and summer was clearly the Giants best pass rusher and who has historically been a force against the run, has been sidelined since suffering a high ankle sprain on Aug. 26. Although he has yet to take a full practice workload, Vernon was removed from the team’s injury report and barring any unexpected setbacks, he’ll be on the field when the Giants host the Eagles. The Giants, who are tied for last in the NFL in sacks, have certainly missed the 28-year-old’s pass rushing prowess as they have struggled to generate pressure without him. But Vernon’s talents can also be used to help shore up the run, especially on the edges where the Giants have had their struggles. New York is currently allowing opponents an average of 124.4 rushing yards per game, 27th in the NFL.

GAME PLAN: The Eagles must be beyond giddy to have quarterback Carson Wentz back so soon despite his tearing an LCL and an ACL late last season. They’re probably even giddier to see that Wentz is still very much the same player he was prior to his injury. That player is a quarterback who’s not afraid to extend plays with his legs nor a guy who’s afraid to chuck the ball down the field. With the return of Alshon Jeffery to the lineup and the continued solid play from tight end Zach Ertz, Wentz has himself a couple of solid receiving options to create some noise on offense.

The Giants challenge is to prevent Wentz from rolling around in the pocket. The defense must squeeze the edges and, if at all possible, try to take advantage of an Eagles offensive line that so far has allowed 14 sacks this season.

Offensively, the Giants look to achieve balance between the run and the pass, but that might be a tall order to accomplish against the NFL’s second-best run defense.

The Giants might be better off attacking the Eagles through the air, as Philadelphia is allowing 276.8 passing yards to opponents per game so far this season and has allowed 18 big-pass plays of 20-plus yards, tying them for 10th most in the NFL with the Panthers and the Jets.

The Giants, who this week practiced with wet footballs, managed to get their vertical passing game going last week, so look for them to try to build on what they started against the Eagles Thursday night, even though heavy rain is in the weather forecast.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH

–Giants interior OL vs. Eagles DT Fletcher Cox. The Giants’ offensive line has allowed 16 sacks this season, though last week for the first time they held the opponent to just one sack in the game. But this week, the interior of the offensive line gets a big — pun intended — challenge with Cox, who leads his team with 3.0 and who can push the pocket to create cracks for others to shoot through gaps. Cox is versatile enough to thrive as both a defensive end in a three-man front as well as a 3-technique defensive tackle in a four-man front. Expect the Giants to execute a lot of double-team blocks to try to keep Cox from wreaking havoc and disrupting quarterback Eli Manning from taking his shots down the field.

–Giants pass defense vs. Eagles TE Zach Ertz. When it comes to defending opposing tight ends, the Giants have historically had their issues. This week, they’ll get a guy in Ertz, who in 10 games has 47 receptions for 582 yards and three touchdowns against the Giants and a 74.6 percent reception rate. Ertz has two straight 10-reception games in which he’s logged 100-plus yards in each. Although the Giants’ pass defense has been solid of late, allowing just 229 passing yards per game (eighth in the NFL), they can’t afford to break down now against perhaps one of the best tight ends they’ve faced so far this season.

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