Giants' secondary hurting as they prepare for Cowboys
Giants cornerback Adoree' Jackson (22) is helped off the field alongside head coach Brian Daboll, right, during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022, in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
There never is a good time in the NFL to lose your two starting cornerbacks, but the Giants have done so at a particularly inopportune moment.
Their opponent on Thursday, the Dallas Cowboys, are coming off a 40-3 rout of the Vikings and sport an array of weapons, including wide receiver CeeDee Lamb.
Lamb has 751 receiving yards and five touchdown receptions, which is the same number as every Giants wide receiver combined – and two of those are from players who are out for the season.
Adoree’ Jackson (knee) definitely is out for Thursday, and likely for a few weeks after that, although coach Brian Daboll said Jackson was feeling better on Tuesday, and he walked through the locker room without an apparent limp.
Fabian Moreau (oblique) has not been ruled out against the Cowboys, but he has not been ruled in, either, one of a number of banged-up players whose statuses Daboll said are uncertain.
(Starting safety Xavier McKinney remains out with a hand injury he suffered in an ATV accident during the bye week.)
What does that leave at cornerback? Presumably some combination of Cor’Dale Flott, Nick McCloud and Rodarius Williams, all of whom saw action in Sunday’s 31-18 loss to the Lions.
Flott, a rookie who was drafted in the third round, was a regular for the season’s first three games, then missed six because of a calf injury before returning against Detroit.
“I hate that for those two guys,” Flott said of Jackson and Moreau. “They worked hard to be in that position . . . As far as me, I just know it’s next-man-up mentality. I just have to step up and be the best version of myself.
“This is an opportunity, for sure. It’s an opportunity that I’m excited for. I’m just ready to seize it.”
The Giants claimed McCloud off waivers from the Bills in late August, so he did not get to watch Flott in training camp. But he likes what he has seen since then.
“Proud of him, for sure,” McCloud said. “Just seeing how he’s progressed from the beginning of the season to today, it’s amazing.”
Flott said he has heeded the advice of coordinator Wink Martindale and secondary coach Jerome Henderson to always be prepared to play regardless of the game plan.
He said he has worked on every aspect of his play, from tackling to coverage to the playbook, and has taken notes while observing how Jackson and Moreau do things.
“He’s been coachable and willing to do whatever it takes to go out there and be able to play,” McCloud said. “So props to the leadership and the coaching, and props to him as well.”
As for Lamb, Flott said he has followed the receiver’s career since Lamb played in college at Oklahoma.
“Good player, good instincts, ball skills – everything,” Flott said. “Definitely an exciting person to go against.”
Williams, a sixth-round draft pick by the Giants last year, suffered a torn ACL last October and was activated off injured reserve just last week, another unlikely character who will be in the national television spotlight on Thanksgiving afternoon.
“It’s definitely going to be a challenge,” McCloud said of the makeshift secondary facing the Cowboys. “They have great players, a great coordinator and a great system over there.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
