Giants' Evan Engram on the cusp of erasing the two biggest knocks of his career at once
Evan Engram of the Giants warms up prior to the game against the Seahawks at Lumen Field on Dec. 6 in Seattle. Credit: Getty Images/Abbie Parr
There is a chance that Evan Engram will play in his 16th game of the season on Sunday. He’s dealing with an ankle injury and has been limited in practice all week, but after health issues kept him from getting on the field for a full season in each of his first three years, just lining up against the Cowboys would be a major accomplishment. In terms of silencing his critics, it probably would go much further than the Pro Bowl nod he received last week.
Yet the tight end suggested on Thursday that the only thing that would top playing in 16 games this season would be playing in 17, or even more.
After three years of missing games with injuries and missing the playoffs, Engram finds himself on the cusp of eradicating two of the biggest knocks on his career all at once.
There still is a lot that has to happen for both to be overcome. He has to be cleared to play on Sunday, for one, and the Giants have to win and hope Philadelphia beats Washington on Sunday night for the other to come to fruition. But after never being this close to either, it’s hard for Engram not to think about the possibilities.
"It would mean a lot," Engram said of winning the NFC East title and making it to the postseason. "Everything with the last three years being obviously not up to standard, and all the progress and all the work we put in this year, everything we’ve been through, it would mean a lot."
Engram, unlike many other Giants players and certainly unlike his head coach, has no problem talking about the possibility of a playoff game. That’s probably because the roster is basically divided into two halves when it comes to such matters.
On one side are the players and coaches who have been brought in who have plenty of experiences participating in — and winning — games in January and February.
For Logan Ryan, Blake Martinez, Dion Lewis, Cam Fleming, Graham Gano and certainly Joe Judge, this is nothing new. The expectation throughout their career has been to be in such a position. They remain comfortably mum regarding what follows Sunday.
Then there are the have-nots — players such as Engram, Dalvin Tomlinson, Wayne Gallman and Jabrill Peppers who have yet to reach the postseason in their careers. Throw in Sterling Shepard, the longest-tenured Giant, who got just a taste of the playoffs in his rookie season but has been deprived of it since.
Judge has called potential playoff games "hypotheticals" for the past few weeks. For most of that last crew mentioned, they’ve never even been close enough to express conjecture about the postseason. Pardon them for doing so now.
There actually is a third segment of the roster. Call them the first-timers club. They are the rookies and youngest among the Giants who don’t recognize how hard it is to get even this close to the playoffs or, in the case of this franchise, how rare it has become.
"Obviously, I would love to be there," rookie safety Xavier McKinney said. "We have to take care of business this Sunday in order to even have a chance to get there, and even still, it might not happen."
At least the entire team seems to be on the same page regarding what it will take to make the playoffs a reality. The first step in that process on Sunday will be beating the Cowboys.
"The energy is through the roof," Engram said. "We’ve approached [Wednesday and Thursday] really well. I think the work we’re putting in is really good and our attention to detail has been good, too. I definitely feel like we are taking this as serious as we can."
After that, if they are successful, they can wait to see if what they have done this season is enough to earn them a 17th game.
Notes & quotes: FB Eli Penny (illness) and WR Golden Tate (calf) did not practice on Thursday. Neither participated on Wednesday, either . . . CB Darnay Holmes (knee) was a full participant . . . Judge, who turned 39 on Thursday, was asked about his plans to celebrate his birthday and ring in the new year. "Yeah, it’s going to be a wild night, man," he said. "Break down some tape, get tomorrow’s practice finalized, try to get a little bit of sleep . . . The good news is it’s going to be 2021 for an entire year, so if I don’t get to [celebrate on Thursday night], I’ll get to catch up later on."
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.
