Big names could be back from injury for Giants against Commanders
Daniel Bellinger has an eye injury. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Giants injury report looked to be about a mile long after Wednesday’s practice, but that doesn’t mean all the news was bad.
Despite a number of key injuries, it appears that some big names might be in play for Sunday’s game against the Commanders — tight end Daniel Bellinger, outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari and right tackle Evan Neal. Bellinger (eye) was limited in practice and Ojulari (calf) was out, with Ojulari just recently activated off the injured reserve. Neal (knee) and offensive lineman Tyre Phillips (neck) were full participants.
“A lot,” defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said dryly when asked how much he missed Ojulari. “It sounds like a Hallmark card, doesn’t it? I’ve missed you a lot.”
Asked to assess Ojulari’s possible return for Sunday, Brian Daboll said, “I hope so.”
“I’m going to wait until the end to see how these guys are. You get your hopes up — first they’re ready, then they’re not ready so we’ll see if we can put another good day together.”
Daboll also said he was pleased with how Bellinger practiced Monday; the tight end was in the middle of a strong rookie campaign before fracturing his eye socket against the Jaguars in Week 7. He had surgery, but suffered from double vision and swelling in the aftermath.
“He could see,” Daboll said. “He did good, too. He’s got that mask on so hopefully, he’ll be ready to go.”
Meanwhile, Ojulari can lend a hand with pass rushing while Neal can help stymie a strong Commanders defensive front.
“Yeah, yesterday was a good day,” offensive coordinator Mike Kafka said of Neal. “Today, we’ll continue to evaluate it. Obviously, Evan is a good player and he adds some juice to the o-line room in what he brings. I’m excited for him and I think today he’s taking it day by day and continues to work on all those fundamental things that we talked about earlier.”
Notes & quotes: CB Adoree’ Jackson (knee), RB Gary Brightwell (illness), LG Shane Lemieux (toe) and LG Josh Ezeudu (neck) were all out in the Giants first in-pads practice in about three weeks … WR Robert Foster was released from the practice squad.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
