Patriots will host a banged-up Giants team on Thursday Night Football
The Giants are dealing with injuries to several huge pieces in their offense, which could make an unfavorable game against the Patriots even more difficult.
Adam Schefter reported on Tuesday morning that Evan Engram is now questionable to play against the Patriots on Sunday. Sterling Shepard has already been ruled out, and Saquon Barkley is still working back from his ankle injury he suffered a few weeks ago. These are three key players for the Giants offense that all may be sidelined against the best defense in football.
If they are unable to play on Thursday, Daniel Jones’ top weapons will be Golden Tate, Darius Slayton, and Jon Hilliman. Those guys may be able to find some success, but it is undoubtedly a drop-off from Engram, Barkley, and Shepard.
In addition to WR Sterling Shepard being out Thursday at New England and RB Saquon Barkley being unlikely to play, there’s also a real chance the Giants will be without TE Evan Engram, who is dealing with a sprained MCL, per source. It’ll be a challenge for Engram to play at NE.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 8, 2019
If none of those guys are active, the Giants will have a very tough time moving the football against the Patriots. The only banged-up position group for the Patriots is the offensive line, but they’re getting better each week. Offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia is also the best in the business, and he surely will help those guys adapt.
Each team’s injury reports as of Monday are as follows:
New England Patriots
- Phillip Dorsett- did not participate
- Rex Bulkhead- limited participation
- Julian Edelman- limited participation
- Josh Gordon- limited participation
- Patrick Chung- limited participation
- Nate Ebner- limited participation
New York Giants
- Wayne Gallman- did not participate
- Sterling Shepard- did not participate
- Evan Engram- did not participate
- Saquon Barkley- limited participation
- Nate Solder- limited participation
- Alec Ogletree- limited participation
- Lorenzo Carter- limited participation
- Josiah Tauefa- limited participation
New England should be able to win this game fairly easily. The Giants have a lot of key guys injured or not at 100%, and they have to go into Foxborough and win with a rookie quarterback.
I believe if this was a Sunday game, Barkley and Engram would play. They are on a short week against an AFC team, so I find it hard to believe the Giants would be rushing those guys to return.
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The Patriots are looking to keep their win streak alive to try and stretch out their lead in the race for the AFC over the Kansas City Chiefs, who suffered a loss at home against the Indianapolis Colts. If New England can get a win on Thursday, they’ll be afforded the opportunity of an extra “mini-bye week” three weeks before their actual bye comes around in Week 10… allowing the Pats to focus on getting their injured players even more rest and a chance to heal up before the schedule gets tougher.