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Olivier Vernon, the star linebacker who missed the New York Giants’ season-opening game vs. the Jacksonville Jaguars with an ankle injury, will practice on Wednesday. Coach Pat Shurmur dropped that encouraging bit of news during an appearance Tuesday afternoon on WFAN.
“He’ll be out there this week. He’s getting closer,” the Giants coach said in his weekly radio spot with Mike Francesa on WFAN. “He’s a fast healer from what I’m told. So he’s going to be at practice [on Wednesday] and throughout. We’ll just see how much he can do as we get ready to play.”
Vernon is the Giants’ best pass rusher. Without him on Sunday, the Giants only sacked Jaguars’ quarterback Blake Bortles once and Bortles often had ample time to survey the field for open targets.
The defense did, however, play well overall. The Jacksonville offense scored just 13 points, none in the second half.
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Legendary former Giant Michael Strahan, a Hall of Famer, said Tuesday that if he were playing today he would have joined players who have knelt for the national anthem. Per the Daily News:
“I don’t know. I think I would have [knelt],” Strahan said Monday on “The Ellen Show.”
“I would have had a conversation with my father. Based on that conversation with him, I’m pretty sure I would have.”
His father is a military man who has supported the controversial pregame displays.
“I know why [Kaepernick] knelt. It was not in any disrespect to the military or anybody in the armed services because I have an appreciation for that,” the 46-year-old said. “And when my father, 81, can look at me and tell me that he’s not offended by it because he understands, then how could I — who didn’t do that service — be offended?”
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