Giants' Xavier McKinney is picture of health
Xavier McKinney #29 of the Giants celebrates after defeating the Baltimore Ravens at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Bouncing around the Giants’ facility on Thursday was akin to making rounds as a medical student. Every stop presented a different ailment.
There was a group or reporters around Kadarius Toney, the wide receiver dealing with multiple hamstring injuries. He’s played two games this year. Next a scrum formed near Saquon Barkley, the running back who is managing a sprained shoulder. He’s had to come off from time to time in the last two games to have that area taken care of. Sterling Shepard, already out for the season and on injured reserve, chatted casually about his upcoming plans to fly to California for surgery on his torn ACL. Even offensive coordinator Mike Kafka had to answer questions regarding how he has deployed Daniel Jones as a runner since he twisted his ankle almost three weeks ago.
Scattered elsewhere were quads and calves and groins that will determine who plays and who does not on Sunday in Jacksonville.
Xavier McKinney was in that locker room too. No crowd for him, though.
In terms of diagnostic drama and ameliorative storylines he is amazingly boring. The only interesting aspect of his near constant availability may be how long it has lasted, and how long it still might.
McKinney has now played 1,297 consecutive snaps, the longest active streak among NFL defenders. He hasn’t missed a play since Week 3 of last season. So far this season he’s been out there for all 371 plays.
The safety didn’t even realize it until it was brought to his attention earlier in the week.
“It’s a crazy stat,” he told Newsday.
Especially considering the many things that can go awry during a game. Not just injuries but anything from a personnel substitution to equipment failure can put a guy on the sideline. The last time he missed a snap, in fact, he came out for just one play against the Falcons last year. It was because his chinstrap came undone on his helmet.
He said he prays often for his health, but other famous streaks have ended for far less significant reasons, everything from having to use the bathroom during a game to a shoe coming off. He laughed and said he prays for those issues to avoid him as well. Lord, let no man put asunder these shoelaces and keep mine bladder despoiled. Amen.
“I don’t think I’ve come close,” he said when asked if there has been a moment during the streak when he could have or should have headed to the sideline. “I can’t think of a time where it was close and I could have come off. It’s pretty crazy.”
Not bad for a guy whose career began with a very bad fracture to his foot which curtailed his rookie season to just a handful of games. Year 2 started out slowly – he was playing about half the snaps in Weeks 1 and 2 last season -- before he grew into the player the Giants needed on the field for every down. He hasn’t stopped since.
The Giants gave McKinney a day off from practice reps on Thursday just to give him a break. Even with the hall pass he was still on the field going through some individual drills, walking up and down the stretch line shaking hands with teammates, and bopping around while the rest of the squad went through its more formal paces.
Nor does he shy away from talking about (is it too soon to use capital letters?) The Streak. No knocking on wood, no superstitious aversion, no worry about jinxes. McKinney would be the guy throwing a no-hitter in the second inning and bringing it to everyone’s attention in the dugout.
The only other player on the team who has played every snap on offense or defense is left tackle Andrew Thomas (the Giants have had 396 offensive plays so far in 2022). He’s dealing with an elbow that may hinder him on Sunday. Cornerback Adoree’ Jackson is the only other Giant who has seen action in at least 90 percent of the plays (he’s at 344 or 92.72%). Jackson hurt his neck and knee against the Packers in London but has since returned.
Teammate Julian Love had his own streak going through the first three and a half games of the season before he suffered a concussion in Week 4 against the Bears. He was removed from that game but played the next week. He didn’t miss a game and has played every snap since his return.
Love is impressed by McKinney’s ironman efforts.
“I would attribute that to living right,” Love said. “You do the right things on and off the field you get to have streaks like that. He’s done a good job of being available and being there for us.”
Ultimately, that’s what drives McKinney. Brian Daboll says he wants players who are “smart, tough and dependable.” McKinney ticks off two of the three with every down he plays during this run.
“That’s definitely something I pride myself in,” he said. “Even when Logan [Ryan] was here we talked about that a lot, just making sure I was always available. I knew that was something he prided himself on. That’s big. You want to always be available for the team. That can take you a long way.”
The NFL record for most consecutive snaps played belongs to soon-to-be Hall of Famer Joe Thomas of the Browns. The left tackle played 10,636 plays without missing a single one.
“Damn,” McKinney said.
For McKinney to reach that level he’d have to remain on the field for, oh, another decade or so straight. Laughable.
Or is it?
“I mean, it’s not something that’s impossible,” McKinney said. “I can get to that point. I just have to keep hoping that everything goes the right way.”
On a team in which it seems just about everyone is dealing with something, it’s comforting to know McKinney plans on being on the field for a very long time.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
