Odell Beckham Jr. (ankle) and Brandon Marshall (shoulder) seem unlikely to play for the New York Giants on Saturday when they face the New York Jets in a preseason game at MetLife Stadium. Giants coach Ben McAdoo is not, however, ruling them out.
"See how they respond to treatment. See how they look tomorrow,” is what McAdoo about his duo of wide receivers during a Thursday meeting with the media.
Here are a few other takeaways from McAdoo’s remarks
Valentino Blake
The veteran cornerback left the team this week.
"He's dealing w/some personal issues right now ... we're going to give him some time and space to deal with those,” McAdoo said.
The coach said he thought Blake had been having a “good camp” before leaving.
Available Players Vs. Jets
The Giants have a number of players who are banged up, perhaps making Saturday’s preseason game difficult to navigate.
"We're gonna deal with the guys who can play,” McAdoo said. “They're medical decisions, so if guys are available to play vs. the Jets we'll play 'em, If not we won't."
Geno Smith
Carelessness with the ball is perhaps the one thing that could keep Smith from earning the Giants’ No. 2 quarterback job.
"Taking care of the ball would be an important part of being on this team, yes,” McAdoo said when asked about Smith’s propensity to turn the ball over. "He's picking up the offense, he's working hard at it, he gets football, he throws a nice catchable ball and he completes a lot of balls. We just have to eliminate the negative plays."
Offensive Line Changes
McAdoo was asked about the possibilities here after Brett Jones got first-team reps at right guard earlier in the week. He said it was “never” too late to make changes.
"Convenience is never a good answer,” McAdoo said. “You have to do what's best for the team. If you can improve the roster you improve it, if you can improve the starting lineup you improve it. You never take the easy way out."
The coach there is a balance that must be struck between continuity and opportunity.
"The first group needs to play together, and you need to be able to push the first group as well,” McAdoo said. “There's a balance there, but guys have earned opportunities to go in there and compete and we need to give them those opportunities."
Trolling The Waiver Wire
McAdoo said the new cutdown rule, one cut from 90 to 53 players rather two cuts to reach that number, will make things “interesting.”
“There will be a lot of players out there and a lot of good players out there. Some teams are stockpiled at some positions and they may not keep 'em around, so you'll be able to find some good players out there that have some experience possibly that could come in and make your team better,” he said.
Relaxed Celebration Rules
The coach indicated he has had players meet with officials to discuss what will and will not be allowed under the league’s relaxed celebration rules.
“We want to make sure we’re not kicking PATs from Hoboken,” McAdoo said.