The repercussions of Xavier McKinney’s comments about the Giants’ failure to let the team captains lead likely will be felt for much of the rest of the season, but a day after defensive coordinator Wink Martindale acknowledged he was hurt by what McKinney said, defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson tried to put them behind the team.
“Having had to live in a locker room myself as a player, I think when you play a team sport, you try to keep the focus on the team and only bring up positive things about the team,’’ Henderson said Friday.
“Anything else, you deal with [inside]. I think the kid was emotional after the game and said what he said. I know Wink and [head coach Brian Daboll] talked about it and at this point, we’ll move on to Dallas.”
But with eight games remaining in the season, there is a chance tensions might linger stemming from McKinney telling ESPN.com following the loss to the Raiders, “I think that from a leadership standpoint, I don’t think they’ve done a great job of letting the leaders lead and listening to the leaders and the captains.”
Asked how the Giants will keep McKinney — a respected voice in the locker room — focused, Henderson said, “We’ll keep everything about the team for all of us: Me, him [and] everyone else.”
McKinney did not speak to reporters on Friday.
Evan Neal is among the players who have been ruled out for Sunday’s game.
The move was expected after the right tackle suffered a sprained left ankle against the Raiders last Sunday.
He had missed the previous two games with a sprained right ankle before his brief return in Las Vegas. Daboll said, “It was too early to tell” if Neal might have to go on IR.
Adoree’ Jackson was also ruled out for Sunday’s game with a concussion and a neck injury and RB Deon Jackson was declared out with a concussion.
WR Parris Campbell was questionable with a hamstring, as was RB Jashaun Corbin and OL Mark Glowinski missed practice again because of a personal matter.
The Giants will have to face a Dallas offense with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb coming off consecutive stellar performances, combining for 23 catches and 349 yards against the Rams and Eagles, respectively.
Rookie corner Deonte Banks figures to match up against Lamb.
“He’s as competitive [and] as productive as anybody we’ve played this year,’’ Henderson said of Lamb.
Asked if it will be a test for Banks, Henderson laughed and said, “A test would be an understatement for what we’re all gonna face. We will not back down. We’ll challenge him and be aggressive.”
Banks will be coming off a lackluster game against the Raiders.
Henderson said Banks needs to improve in his understanding of certain game situations.
“He did some really good things, made some good plays [and] played better in the second half,’’ Henderson said. “He’s got to learn to be a little more aware, a little more prepared, a little more focused.”
Daboll said they wouldn’t take it easy on Saquon Barkley a week after he had 16 carries in the lopsided loss to Las Vegas, which came a week after Barkley had 36 rushes versus the Jets.
“We’ll give him a workload,’’ Daboll said.
Asked if there was a concern he would be overtaxed, Daboll said, “We try to do the best we can during the week to take care of him so he’s physically and mentally fresh. He’s such a good team player.’’
Barkley was named Week 10 Community MVP by the NFLPA after meeting with people at a homeless camp in Allentown, Pa. and making a donation. Kayvon Thibodeaux received the same award last week.
Daboll also said the team hasn’t chosen a kicker yet for Sunday’s game.
With Graham Gano out for the rest of the year with a left knee injury, they had a pair of kickers on the roster for last week’s game against the Raiders, when the more experienced Randy Bullock did the kicking over Cade York.
Both Bullock and York were signed last week after Gano went on IR.
The Giants did some jersey swapping for Friday’s practice, with Dexter Lawrence squeezing into Thibodeaux’s No. 5 jersey, as well as Jihad Ward taking Daniel Jones’ No. 8.
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