Giants practice report, 8/18: Takeaways from Thursday

The New York Giants held their final practice on Thursday prior to facing the Buffalo Bills Saturday in their second preseason game. Here are some of the things we learned.

Victor Cruz’s day

As optimistic as Cruz and the Giants are trying to be, this does not look like a guy who will be ready for NFL game action any time soon.

Roster move

The Giants Thursday announced that cornerback Matt Smalley has been waived/injured. Smalley suffered a dislocated shoulder on Monday and the move was expected after the team announced the signing on Wednesday of defensive back Joe Powell. Once Smalley clears waivers, he reverts to the Giants injured reserve list.

Injury update

Guard Justin Pugh (shoulder), wide receiver Geremy Davis (hamstring), defensive end Kerry Wynn (groin), H-Back Will Johnson (burner) and cornerback Eli Apple (knee) did not practice.

Not so fast there, Kelvin Sheppard

After practice observers had said that Kelvin Sheppard had moved into the lead in the competition for the starting middle linebacker job it was Jasper Brinkley and not Sheppard who took first-team reps on Thursday.

It looks like the middle linebacker wheel is going to continue to spin for a while.

Obarski’s opportunity

With Josh Brown suspended for the first game of the regular season, Tom Obarski has an opportunity to make his NFL debut. Saturday could go a long way toward determining whether or not he gets the chance.

“We’re gonna give Tom an opportunity to kick a lot this Saturday,” said head coach Ben McAdoo. “We’ll see how he does. He has a golden opportnity.” (Read more about Obarski)

Josh Brown

McAdoo said the Giants “knew it was a possibility” that Brown would face a suspension. He said he did not learn of the incident until after he became head coach. (Full Josh Brown transcript)