Cam Skattebo is not shy about the kind of running game he wants to be part of: one that lets him hit, absorb, and keep moving. With Patrick Ricard in front of him, the Giants rookie says the job gets a whole lot easier.
“I feel safe,” Skattebo said of running behind 300-pound ’Pancake Pat’. “When he hits the first linebacker and I don’t have to take them both on, it’s really nice.
“My mom - when we first signed Pat, my mom didn’t really know who he was at first. And then I kind of showed her some videos and kind of taught her what he was going to be doing.
And she goes, ‘I want to meet that guy.’ So, my mom says it’s safer, and me, 300 pounds in front of me as a lead blocker on top of the o-line is awesome.
It feels awesome.”
The Giants also may have found another useful answer in the return game. Tyrone Tracy was called on to join Braxton Berrios as one of the team’s kickoff returners in Week 1 after Deonte Banks was in and out of the lineup against the Dallas Cowboys. Tracy has handled the role before, with eight kickoff returns over the past two seasons and a 24.1-yard average.
His name in that spot might raise an eyebrow because of the ball security issues he showed against Dallas, when he fumbled on his second and final carry of the game. He also put the ball on the ground in a preseason game. Still, with Banks questionable for the Rams because of a calf injury, Tracy could be back there again.
Special teams coordinator Chris Horton said Tracy brings the kind of downhill style the Giants want on kick returns.
“Just gives us the running back, the vision. A guy, again, that can run returns downhill.
They’re downhill plays. And a guy that can bounce off tackles,” said special teams coordinator Chris Horton.
“We just want guys that have a lot of skill, guys that can make plays on their own, and guys that can make people miss in the hole. Because a lot of times it’s going to be one guy that you might have to make miss.”
As for the fumbles, Horton didn’t sound alarmed.
“Not concerned at all,” Horton said. “Just things that we talk about. Just from a fundamentals standpoint, you’re going through traffic, let’s make sure we protect the ball.”
Malik Nabers was the Giants’ busiest receiver in Week 1, drawing nine targets in his first game back after last season’s torn ACL. But the workload was still limited: he played 36 of 68 snaps, or 52%.
That has the Giants asking whether he’s ready for more. “It’s a question we’re asking ourselves, in all honesty,” said head coach John Harbaugh.
“I think it comes back to what he’s capable of handling. He had a good workload today again, so as he’s ramping up his volume in practice, which would be bringing him closer to that kind of mindset in the games, we’ll see as we get through the games.
He looks strong. He does.”
There was also some travel chaos for new cornerback Nikko Reed, who was signed off the Los Angeles Chargers’ practice squad on Thursday. Reed flew from Los Angeles to New Jersey, practiced with the Giants on Friday and Saturday, then headed back to LA on Saturday afternoon as the team prepared to face the Rams.
Harbaugh liked the move and the urgency behind it.
“It’s good to be aggressive, especially at that position,” Harbaugh said. “There’s still guys on the practice squad who won’t last on the practice squad probably too much longer, so it was a good get for us.”
In Other News...
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Micah McFadden and ArDarius Washington were among the players whose roles and value took a hit, which is the kind of early-season development that can matter more than it seems in a league where timing drives contract decisions. For a Giants team trying to sort out its future without waiting for the calendar to catch up, the real challenge is already taking shape: figuring out which of these potential free agents are building toward long-term deals and which ones are slipping into tougher territory. [Read more 🡒]
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For the Giants, the biggest practical challenge is treating Nacua as if he will be available, even with the Rams managing several key absences around him. In a game where both teams are sorting through late-week injury concerns, the final availability report could matter as much as the matchups themselves, especially for a New York defense trying to plan without clarity and an offense that may need to be ready for a different kind of game than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Fast Start Is Hiding Two Problems Fans Can't Ignore
A win over the Cowboys in the opener did more than just put the Giants in the standings column, it gave the franchise a much-needed jolt of credibility. A 2-0 start has people looking at the roster a little differently, and for good reason, since the early returns have been enough to suggest this team can hang around in the playoff conversation.
Still, the first two weeks have not erased the questions that have followed this group for a while. The secondary has been vulnerable, the front seven has not delivered much in the pass rush, and the receiver room does not have much depth behind the top options. Those issues are easy to overlook when the record is clean, but they are the kind that can catch up fast once the schedule tightens. [Read more 🡒]