Loading ...It's been a week of bad news for the New York Giants and their defensive line. Having already lost both Shaun Rogers (blood clot) and Martin Parker (back) to season-ending injuries, and having waived Justin Trattou (heel), the last thing the team could afford was losing defensive tackle Marvin Austin, who recently made a trip to the Hospital for Special Surgery with a back issue of his own. Luckily, as head coach Tom Coughlin prayed for, the injury was minor and Austin may return to practice as early as next week.
"I'm good. I'm straight," Austin said when asked how his back was. "[Just] a little back ache.”
Austin will not play on Saturday against the New York Jets, and is unsure of his status for the rest of the preseason. However, the regular season does not appear to be in jeopardy at this point, and the sore back can likely be attributed to Austin's lack of playing -not the University at Albany beds- in recent years.
“Obviously my body is adapting to it, so it could’ve had a little affect,” Austin said. “I don’t think it was the mattress’ fault. I didn’t have the best bed, but it wasn’t the worst.”
Due to the sudden and overwhelming number of injuries to their defensive tackles, the team was forced into signing both Oren Wilson and Carlton Powell, and are also expected to announce the signing of former Denver Broncos fourth-round pick Marcus Thomas at some point today.
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Re-post:
norm says:
August 16, 2012 at 1:14 PM
From what I’ve been able to glean, Thomas doesn’t have much pass rush ability.
As in, none. Zero. Zilch. Dude has totaled ONE sack over five NFL seasons.
Meaning: A change in role for Landfill is likely forthcoming if Canty is unable to start the season and Thomas somehow wins the second starting DT job.
Last season, Landfill was the space-eating, one-technique nose tackle while Canty took on the pass-rushing 3-technique, under tackle role (although he has never really excelled at it)
But Canty on his worst day as a pass rusher is undoubtedly still better than Marcus Thomas’ best, so it stands to reason that Landfill will assume Canty’s UT role from last year and let Thomas take over as the NT. I’m one of Landfill’s biggest fans, but I tend to believe that he will be somewhat miscast there.
But unless Austin “shocks the world” and comes into his own much more rapidly than anyone expects this year, then the Giants will continue to see a rather tepid pass rush from the DT position. Maybe Hendricks has the chops for it but that remains to be seen. But given Thomas’ complete lack of aptitude for getting to to the QB, it appears that Landfill right now is the best of several less than thrilling options to play UT.
From a rotational DT who’s main job will be to stuff the run I don’t you worry about pass rush. As long as he occupies a blocker on passing down and fills his gaps on run downs then he’s done his job. Thomas and Joseph likely won’t be on the field for a 2nd and 10.
I very much doubt that the Giants share that belief.
Reese spent a high second round pick on Austin on account of his mad pass rushing skills. That tells me the Giants are hoping to get something more from their DTs other than just another run-stuffer who can occupy blockers.
Pass rushing DTs are a scarce commodity indeed. But don’t kid yourself; the Giant coaches and front office are all too aware that a legit interior pass rusher would take this defense to heretofore undreamt of heights. Austin looks to be the ONLY DT on the roster who has that kind of skill. But that does not mean that the Giants are going to completely abandon the idea of generating some QB pressure from the middle. That job fell to Canty in 2011 (although he’s not very good at it) and Cofield in 2010 (ditto) Barring any surprises, that figures to be Landfill’s role this time around – at least until Canty is able to return to the lineup.
Thomas is replacing Rodgers who was replacing Benard. Rodgers at 33 wasn’t going to do much as a pass rusher either. Of course we would be better with a high level DT pass rush. But it’s something we have rarely had and still managed an elite pass rush. Austin would be a benifit but until he is ready we will be fine with pass rush wise with the DTs we have. Remember Austin and Hendricks will get a lot of 2nd and 8-10 snaps. And Tuck will get his Nascar DT snaps. My point is while your concern has some merit it’s not a big deal.
I understand that the players Thomas is replacing were not pass rushers, either.
But that wasn’t my point. It was simply that barring any other DTs who show any aptitude for getting to the opposing QB, Landfill will have to take over that role. A role, I might add, for which I doubt he’s especially well suited. That’s all.
If Landfill can do as meh a job pass rushing as Canty did last year, then you’re correct – the defense won’t look appreciably different this year. But if he can’t hurdle over that relatively low bar, then, yes, I will be concerned.
LOL at FF55 and norm both using “mad” as a substitute for “a lot” today!
In the above context, I actually used it in lieu of “groovy,” which is still the preferred verbiage for an old hippie such as myself.
@MikeGarafolo
WR David Douglas is back to practice today. #nyg
Also, Nicks in pads and ready to go.
Limited still under the new CBA.
So that’s Canty, Joseph, Austin, Thomas, Benard, Hendricks and Kuhn. Hmmm. I think if we expected to have Canty ready for the start of the year we don’t sign Thomas or probably more accurately Thomas doesn’t want sign with us. This leads me to think Canty is headed to PUP. Two out of Benard, Hendricks and Kuhn will make the roster. With Hendricks or Kuhn heading to PS if they don’t make the 53. That means we start the year with 5 DTs on the 53 excluding Canty. Which I think does make sense beause the only certain DT to produce would be Joseph. Thus having 5 DTs on the 53 at least until Sash’s suspension is over makes a lot of sense.
norm, while it would be great to have a DT who is truly adept at getting to the quarterback, the Giants will gladly “settle” for having one who can stop the run and push the pocket back just enough to make the QB vulnerable to the edge rush.
And let’s remember that once we get into passing downs a lot of play will be by JPP, Osi, Tuck and Kiwi (or sometimes Tracy). When you have four guys up front who are capable of getting to the quarterback on clear passing downs you’re really only talking about roughly half of the defensive snaps where there’s any question about the pass-rush skills of the tackles. I hope that will be the biggest worry we have this season. If so, we’re in awfully good shape.
Tough love
@MikeGarafolo
Coughlin getting on Rueben Randle to “compete” through press coverage: “All day long you’re going to get that, right in your face!”
Beatty also not practicing
Are we really looking to add a free agent defensive tackle on August 16th who is a pass rusher and a force against the run?
Set your sights lower, fellas. Anyone we get now will be a notch above camp fodder, for the fact that they are currently unemployed probably means that they aren’t “worth” any of the countless contracts that have been tossed around in the offseason. If they can play and acquit themselves respectably enough to not be a chasmic weakness for the first quarter or so of the season, they will have done more than their job.
+1 I don’t think he is the under achieving stud tackle he is being made out to be
He could be.
But I’m simply pointing out that holding out for some miracle worker/eclair in the trash can is unwise. Bring some guys who can either individually or collectively combine to give us something resembling quality depth for the first few weeks. If we get more than that out of anyone, the Vatican ought to be brought in to investigate whether or not Jerry Reese is, indeed, the Black Jesus of the NFL.
Black Unicorn Alert!
@TomRock_Newsday
Martellus Bennett with leaping grab in back of end zone from Eli. Fantasy football alert!
My friend whose son is a part-time scout (and who was up in Albany) told me the following:
DePalma looks like he’s out of the running for a roster spot.
Hixon looks VERY good and Eli seems to look for him a lot so the coaches will see they have a connection (the scout says that while he loves Randle and thinks he is going to be a stud, he isn’t ready to really compete for that #3 receiver job as long as Hixon is healthy).
Ware will be the #2 back but this guy says he still thinks he will disappoint and Wilson is “going to get his chance” this season. He also, surprisingly, said that Bradshaw looks as quick as he did his rookie season and must really be feeling good.
He said Osi, JPP and Tuck are going to unstoppable this season if they stay healthy and that each of them looks so quick it’s ridiculous, and that all of them are happy to mentor Tracy, who is much bigger than he remembers.
He said Eli is so in command of the offense that Gilbride ought to allow him to “do a Peyton” and call the plays at the LOS.
Loves Holsey and Hill but thinks the surprise survivor of final cuts may be Coe, who doesn’t do anything spectacular but seems to make the plays that have to be made.
He’s not convinced yet on Herzlich. He thinks his reads are a split-second longer than Chase’s and says that makes all the difference in Fewell’s defense because it depends upon the MIKE dropping back very quickly and covering two possible passing lanes depending upon where the receivers go. Says Herzlich will be good but may still need more time.
Says he’s worried that they may keep Perrilloux (just because of a few comments he has overheard) because he thinks Carr is “measurably better” than he has ever seen him and could lead this team if he had to in a pinch.
Okay, that’s it, because most of the rest was his saying things are “still murky” at certain roster spots. He did say, though, that over a number of years of scouting camps for various teams he has never seen as many potential cuts whom other teams should want to sign. Unfortunately, he said that unless the Giants “hide certain players” they are going to have a tough time keeping some of those they’d like to stow away on the practice team.
Interesting stuff, FF
Very interesting indeed. The thing that caught my eye was Eli’s grasp of the offense and allowing him to call his own plays at the line of scrimmage. You don’t have to look any further than Eli in the 2 minute offense to see how well he handles it. He’s very smart and great at reading defenses/adjusting the coverage. Plus maybe we’d stop all those delay of games because Gilbride takes so damn long to call a play in…
ENERGY!!!
@art_stapleton
Tyler Sash & Bear Pascoe tangled up in end zone, looked like Sash came up after play & flattened Pascoe from blind side. Order restored #NYG
Where’s my black unicorn Bennett pic?
Perrilloux over Carr on the 53 man roster would be the biggest training camp shocker in a long time, at least from my view. It makes no sense to me.