New York Giants News, 10/11: Eli Apple “Uncertain” About Role

Eli Apple did not start Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers after having been burned for a number of big plays earlier in the season. The New York Giants 2016 first-round pick said Tuesday that his role was “uncertain” as of now.

"I just know whatever they tell me to do I'm going to do it,” Apple said.

Apple also addressed his Sunday night comment about the “culture” of the giants.

"Just getting everybody on the same page, making sure everybody's mission is to win this game,” Apple said. "We're 0-5 for a reason. We've got to make sure we do everything we can to win the game."

Tavarres King Confident He Can Help Offense

Wide receiver Tavarres King, waived Sept. 18 to make room on the 53-man roster for linebacker Curtis Grant, is back with the Giants. He acknowledged Tuesday that “the cirumstances stink,” with three receivers having one on season-ending IR. King, though, is happy to be back and ready to contribute.

“I feel like I can play the game at a high level,” King said. “I feel like I’m just coming off of a really good start to camp and when I was practicing, I was practicing really well so I feel good about what I was doing. I’m very confident in myself.”

Ed Eagan and Travis Rudolph were the other receivers added to the roster. King (4 receptions, 63 yards) is the only one who has caught a pass in an NFL game.

Eli Looks For The Bright Side

Losing Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall and Dwayne Harris for the season, and not having Sterling Shepard for an undetermined period of time, is obviously a major blow to the Giants. It will certainly make life more difficult for quarterback Eli Manning.

On Tuesday, though, Manning looked for the positives in adding King, Eagan and Rudolph to the roster. The biggest being that all three already know the offense.

“We have to move on and obviously, whenever you lose players, you have to make adjustments and other guys have to step up. Nothing has changed in that fact,” Manning said. “So, we have some guys – brought back some guys who have been around, been in the system who have made some plays for us in the past. So, they’ll be ready. They’ll know the system. They’ll know what they’re doing. Thrown the routes with them before. Shouldn’t have to worry about guys not knowing their assignments. So, I’ll have confidence in them and we’ll go out there, have a good plan, go execute it.”

Sterling Shepard “Crushed” By Injuries

Sterling Shepard was the first of the four Giants receivers injured Sunday. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the last. Or the most severely injured.

“Man, I’ve never seen anything like it. Especially from just one unit, it was like one guy after another coming into the training room,” Shepard said. “I was actually going to go pick up my medicine and I heard about Odell [Beckham Jr.] and that one, they all crushed me, but to end it all off and have him out, it’s crazy to see.”

Shepard compared his current ankle injury to the one he had in training camp. He said he has “no idea” when he might be cleared to play.

Practice Squad Changes

The Giants signed wide receiver Kalif Raymond and offensive lineman Ethan Cooper to their practice squad. They terminated the practice squad contract of Anthony Fabiano, who was signed last week.

Raymond, 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds, played four games for the Broncos in 205 and two games for the Jets last season. He did not catch a pass, but he averaged 9.3 yards on 16 punt returns and 24.7 yards on nine kickoff returns. Raymond played collegiate football at Holy Cross.

Cooper, 6-2 and 332 pounds, was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers on May 1 and waived on Sept. 2. He played at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which is Ben McAdoo’s alma mater.

Around The Inter-Google

B.J. Goodson backs Ben McAdoo as Giants coach - NY Daily News

Goodson on Tuesday stood up for McAdoo in an interview with the Daily News, saying he believes McAdoo “leads by example,” has “great character,” still “believes,” and is keeping the Giants “caring” and “humbled, grounded and hungry” with his handling of this crisis.

“I love playing for McAdoo, man,” Goodson, 24, a second-year player out of Clemson, said at his locker. “There are so many reasons. I could sit up here (all day). But he leads by example, man. For one, you never want to see a coach go astray. And I feel like in this situation right here, just seeing his response in a situation like this, from the first loss we had all the way through to the last loss, seeing the way he responds is very important.

“Because if he was to respond in a way any differently than he has, then maybe guys do go numb, maybe guys don’t care anymore,” Goodson said. “But the way he’s carried himself and gone on about things, and his messages to us, it keeps us grounded and wanting to work and wanting to fight. Because we know how close we are to getting those wins.”

Giants looking at Branden Albert to bolster depth at tackle - NY Daily News
Seven months late, Jerry Reese apparently is looking into adding NFL-ready depth to the offensive tackle position.

Eli Manning should remain Giants' QB with Webb in the wings | SNY