The first clue as to how right tackle Evan Neal went from a sprained ankle diagnosis to missing the Giants’ final eight games of the season has come to light.
Head coach Brian Daboll said Tuesday “there will be stuff down the road” in terms of a medical procedure for Neal, which suggests that the injury was worse than initially indicated.
The underachieving No. 7 pick in the 2022 draft was placed last week on season-ending injured reserve after showing minimal, if any, improvement during his critical second season.
“The young man’s done everything he could possibly do [to get back],” Daboll said. “Just didn’t work out.”
Neal missed two games with a sprained right ankle, returned to play 50 snaps against the Raiders on Nov. 5 and then injured his left ankle.
“It was just that one play where I got long-armed and I fell. It was kind of like a freak thing,” Neal said this month. “I fell on it, and it dorsiflexed, so I kind of feel like I had nothing to do with my right ankle.”
The Jaguars signed QB Matt Barkley off the Giants’ practice squad.
With Trevor Lawrence’s availability uncertain due to a sprained right shoulder, Barkley could wind up as the backup to C.J. Beathard, who has finished two of the last four games in relief of an injured Lawrence.
Barkley was the Giants’ No. 2 option to Tommy DeVito for three games while Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor were injured, but Barkley never got into a game.
It is possible that the Giants could bring back recently released Jacob Eason for a second stint on the practice squad to fill Barkley’s spot.
Even with time to cool down, Daboll didn’t change his tune from the immediate postgame on the slew of controversial calls that went against the Giants in the loss to the Eagles.
Should officials call the game the same at the end as they do earlier in the game — and thus have flagged the Eagles for pass interference when knocking RB Saquon Barkley out of the end zone on the final throw?
What is the teaching point for LB Bobby Okereke when scooping up a loose ball that could be a fumble — and is it contradictory to how he was charged with a delay-of-game penalty that stopped the clock and gifted the Eagles three points at the end of the first half?
Why did it take 13 seconds — and Saquon Barkley’s help — to spot the ball on the second-to-last play of the game after Darren Waller’s fourth-down conversion?
“Appreciate the question — well thought out,” Daboll laughed. “But officials have a job to do. I respect the job that they have to do. Any decisions or calls, you can ask them about it.”
Punter Jamie Gillan (left groin) was on the injury report last week and had to wear a wrap on his kicking leg against the Eagles, according to Fox.
Could that be why he lined his first two poor punts?
“Jamie was good to go,” Daboll said. “He mis-hit that first ball. Actually, what happened [was] that first return that they had all the way down to positive territory, he was going to make the tackle and he landed on his knee and that’s what’s bothering him right now.”
Gillan’s availability for Sunday is in question.
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