There will be some roster shuffling this week. That much is certain for the Giants as they came out of their season-opening 31-18 victory over the Panthers banged up in one specific area.
Tight end Kevin Boss has a concussion and is being evaluated. Although players say Boss told them following the game that he felt fine he did take a heavy blow to the back of the neck by safety Sherrod Martin – a hit that many Giants and Tom Coughlin believe should have drawn a penalty for unnecessary roughness. Boss was knocked out of the game only four minutes in and, given the new guidelines for players suffering concussions, his availability for Sunday’s game in Indianapolis is highly in doubt.
Complicating matters is that this isn’t the first concussion for Boss. Coughlin revealed today that Boss did indeed have a concussion last season – something the team never said last season. Boss endured heavy hits against the Cardinals and Chargers but did not miss any games. The team made a point of stating last year that Boss did not suffer a concussion after the game against the Cardinals – safety Antrel Rolle, now with the Giants, delivered the hit in that game.
With only two tight ends on the roster, Travis Beckum is the last man standing at the position. When Boss went out, offensive tackle Will Beatty moved in as the blocking tight end. That won’t happen again for the foreseeable future. Beatty after the game was wearing a boot on his right foot, saying he got stepped on late in the fourth quarter. He said his foot was sore but he was able to finish the game and did not seem overly concerned.
Beatty should have been more concerned. It turns out he has a fractured fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot and will require surgery. Coughlin did not say if Beatty is done for the season but that certainly is a possibility.
The injury leaves the Giants without a reserve offensive tackle. The only viable options are moving Shawn Andrews from guard to tackle – where he played in college at Arkansas but not with the Eagles – or moving Adam Koets to tackle, where he worked early in his career with the Giants before moving inside. There’s also a chance the Giants try to sign Guy Whimper, a tackle who was waived in the final round of cuts.
As far as finding another tight end, Bear Pascoe is on the practice squad and is an option.
“Haven’t heard anything yet but I’m ready when they call on me,” Pascoe said. “I’ve been preparing like I’m going to play. Just a matter of time, I guess.”
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As suspected, LB Chase Blackburn did reinjure the medial collateral ligament in his right knee, the same injury that kept him out of the final three preseason games. That should sideline Blackburn at least two weeks although he is hoping this recovery is quicker than the last recovery.
“I feel like it’s more stable this time, I feel I’m at a better starting point than I was the last time,” Blackburn said. “Last time I was real wobbly, real loose, this time I at least have some stabilization in it.”
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As the captain of the special teams, Blackburn said he will do what he can to rally his unit, which was terrible in Sunday’s opener.
“That’s part of my job, they elected me special teams captain for a reason,” Blackburn said. “I got to bring the unit together because what we did yesterday wasn’t acceptable.”
One exception: Blackburn and Coughlin sang the praises of rookie Jason Pierre-Paul, who was on all four special teams and was a demon in coverage.
“He was a force,” Coughlin said.
“Jason Pierre-Paul played a heck of a game on special teams, if you watch [number] 90 run down the field on kickoffs he did a lot of good things on every special teams. Now we need more guys to step up, including myself, as soon as I can get back healthy.”
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Coughlin said “patience is not a good word” when asked about rookie punter Mat Dodge, who was dreadful in his NFL debut. Still, it sounds as if Coughlin will stick with Dodge … for another week.
