Monday Morning Report
First Cuts Due Tomorrow
Tomorrow is September 1st, which means NFL teams will be making their first round of cuts. Rosters are to be reduced from 80 to 75 active players.
Teams must be down to 53 active players by this Saturday, Sept. 5th.
Tuesday’s cuts should have no surprises, but Saturday could be the end for several veterans. WRs Sinorice Moss and David Tyree are two players that might be in jeopardy of being traded or released by Saturday.
Tyree has not shown his usual spark in the red zone offense and his special teams value has dropped as well. He did not dress vs the Jets.
Moss is behind Derek Hagan on the depth charts. He played sparingly vs the Jets Saturday and had no passes thrown in his direction. Moss did have two kickoff returns for a modest total of 41 yards.
End Of The Line For Gilbride’s “Horizontal” Passing Game?
Yes, I know. Isn’t it supposed to be a “vertical” passing game? Not when it came to the Giants. OC Kevin Gilbride has kept the passing game in a box since the end of last season. Those days could be ending.
Hakeem Nicks is aiming to change that with his 6 for 144 performance on Saturday. Mario Manningham saw a dozen balls come his way vs the Jets and Steve Smith showed he could get deep, even though he dropped a potential 90-yard TD pass. Look for those three players to get their names called quite often this season.
One question, please……
I thought Ramses Barden was drafted to augment the red zone offense. So, why did the Giants opt to hand the ball off to Allen Patrick in their final two-point conversion attempt in the 4th quarter? Why didn’t they throw it up to Barden?
Injury News Getting Better
No, there is no definite word when DT Chris Canty (hamstring) will play again, but the news is that he is improving. MLB Antonio Pierce (foot) and CB Aaron Ross (hamstring) should be ready for the Redskins Sept 13th. OLB Michael Boley has been looking spry in individual workouts but has not participated in contact drills. He also may be ahead of schedule and be ready for Week 2.
Brandon Jacobs‘ had x-rays taken on his bruised forearm. The results were negative.
