Giants notes: Daniel Jones’ health, Darius Slayton’s opportunities, more

New York Giants quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski admitted Wednesday that he expects the Giants will have to constantly evaluate Daniel Jones’ health for the remainder of the season.

“Ultimately the biggest thing for him we’re looking at is we want him to play, he wants to play, but we’ve also gotta be smart with him. We felt after consulting with all the doctors and everyone kinda giving their opinion on things and talking to him we felt like it was a situation where the risk wasn’t — it was OK enough where he could go out there and play [against the Arizona Cardinals] and not re-injure it as bad,” Schuplinski said during a Tuesday videoconference.

“We’ll re-evaluate it again this week and see where he is tomorrow (Wednesday) in practice. I’m assuming this process is going to be pretty constant now moving forward.”

Jones missed the Week 13 game against the Seattle Seahawks after injuring his right hamstring. He was obviously not moving well in Sunday’s game, something that contributed to the six sacks he took.

Jones is still fifth in the NFL in rushing yards among quarterbacks with 403. He did not have a single rushing attempt against the Cardinals, the first time in his career he has not runt eh ball at least once.

Schuiplinski said getting out of the pocket is “one of the better things that he does. That’s what makes him who he is.”

“He certainly had to adapt the way he plays.”

The Giants may have to play with a limited Jones the remainder of the season.

“I hope it gets better, certainly,” Schuplinski said. “As I said, he was limited … hopefully it gets better every week.”

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Here are more takeaways from Wednesday’s chance to videoconference with Giants’ position coaches.

Darius Slayton needs opportunities

Wide receiver Darius Slayton had 23 receptions and two 100+ yard receiving performances in the Giants first five games. Over the last eight, he has had 19 receptions and no 100-yard games.

The biggest difference? Opportunity.

“I think it’s opportunities,” said wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert. “He hasn’t had the opportunities to make plays … opportunities to make a lot of plays are not there right now for him, for whatever reason.”

Slayton was targeted 40 times (8.0 per game) over those first five games. Over the last eight, he has been targeted just 35 times (4.4 per game).

Separation anxiety

Tolbert was also asked about the idea Giants’ wide receiver have been having difficulty getting open, something Chris Pflum wrote about on Monday.

“There’s some instances where we were open, there’s some instances where we weren’t open and we made plays on the ball with tight coverage. There were plays where we were open and we didn’t get the ball thrown to us,” Tolbert said.

“I wouldn’t say I’m really discouraged … the way I hear people talk about it i would think the receivers and the DBs are Siamese twins and they’re not.”

Chubb challenge

Inside linebackers coach Kevin Sherrer was an assistant coach at Georgia when Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb was there. On Tuesday, Sherrer underscored the difficulty in dealing with the 5-foot-11, 227-pound Chubb.

“It’s going to be a huge challenge. He’s that big, fast back that you don’t see a lot of anymore,” Sherrer said. “Nick’s a powerful back. He’s kind of one foot in the ground straight downhill. We’re gonna have to be prepared to tackle a guy like him.”

Adding to the toolbox

Earlier this week, rookie linebacker Carter Coughlin said of Giants outside linebackers coach Bret Bielema “that dude is a great teacher.”

Tuesday, Bielema explained what it is about teaching players that he enjoys.

“I don’t care if it’s a rookie like Carter or Cam [Brown] or Niko [Lalos]or working with Jabaal [Sheard]or vets I’ve worked with in the past,” Bielema said. “If you can give them something for their toolbox ...anything you can put in there for ‘em, if you can give them a tool that they haven’t used mentally, physically, a fundamental, a skill set they’re going to enjoy it. Because everybody’s toolbox is a little bit different it lets you kind of individualize it.”

Energizer Bunny

That is what defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson called Jabrill Peppers, who is having the best season of his four-year NFL career.

“Pat’s [defensive coordinator Patrick Graham] done a great job of how he’s utilized him,” Henderson said. “I think bigger than his versatility is his energy and his passion in the defense. He’s just that guy who’s that Energizer Bunny for us that continually just gives effort, just continually plays hard, plays tough. He’s done a great job this season for us.”

Sandro Platzgummer update

Platzgummer, a running back, is an International Pathway Program player who is on the Giants’ practice squad. He is not eligible to be elevated or added to the 53-man roster this season.

How is the young man from Austria adapting to the NFL after playing in the Austrian Football League?

“It’s definitely a developmental year for this guy. He’s played football at a totally different level than he’s playing at now, so the game is kind of new for him. He knows football, but playing at this level has been a new challenge for him,” said running backs coach Burton Burns.

“He’s a hard worker and he works at trying to improve. He knows exactly where he is. As far as the future it just depends on how he continues to improve.”

Does the 5-11, 197-pound Platzgummer have an NFL skill set?

“Yeah, he does,” said Burns. “He does some really good things. Right now the biggest challenge for him is learning how to play this game, as simple as that sounds. Once he figures that out, he’s got some ability.”