The Giants’ bye week won’t solve the problem that opened up when Tremaine Edmunds went down.
Before the Houston game, New York put Edmunds on injured reserve and activated cornerback Paulson Adebo. The team announced the moves, and later reporting described Edmunds’ shoulder injury as season-ending. That leaves the Giants staring at a linebacker situation that needs more than a week off to sort itself out.
Micah McFadden was the next man in, lining up next to rookie Arvell Reese. Reese has already shown he can get to the ball, but that’s only part of the job. A linebacker group also needs someone who can clean up alignments and handle the communication when the offense shifts the picture before the snap.
The 27-21 overtime win over Houston at least gave the coaching staff one game to study that pairing. It did not, by itself, settle whether the depth behind them is good enough for the stretch ahead, especially with Philadelphia and Washington waiting after the bye.
One approach is to keep the responsibilities straightforward for McFadden and Reese, then see whether Jack Kelly and Zaire Barnes can take on real snaps if another injury hits. There’s no need to rush into a trade before the coaches have a better read on what they already have.
That said, a deadline move is still on the table. The Giants could use a veteran linebacker for experience and insurance. But that comes with a cost, because the team also needs help on the defensive front and has fewer mid-round picks to work with than most teams buying at the deadline.
However they handle it, Edmunds’ absence is a real issue. New York needs the current duo to communicate cleanly and needs a trustworthy third option behind them.
The Houston win gave them one answer. It didn’t give them both.
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