Giants very thin at CB after James Bradberry's visit to chiropractor lands him on COVID-19 list

An unfortunate trip to the chiropractor has thrown the Giants' cornerback situation out of whack heading into Sunday night’s primetime matchup against the Browns. Coach Joe Judge confirmed Friday that cornerback James Bradberry’s close contact with a chiropractor outside of the Giants' organization resulted in him being placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday.

Bradberry did not test positive, but was isolated from the team and will participate in team meetings virtually through the weekend. If Bradberry remains asymptomatic and continues to test negative, he is eligible to return to the team on Monday.

"I want to make it clear, James wasn’t defiantly doing anything," Judge said. "He didn’t do anything malicious to hurt the team. It’s unfortunate, sometimes you make a mistake. I don’t want to speak for James, but I can echo his assumption that this guy was with another NFL team and he was under the assumption he was tested every day."

Judge said that they have stressed the dangers of going outside of the organization to the players during a season in which COVID-19 concerns have played such a large role. They reiterated that after Bradberry was deemed a high-risk close contact to a positive case.

"That’s obviously something we try to avoid," Judge said. " . . . If there is someone externally, I don’t care if it’s a chiropractor, dentist, or barber, or whoever you need contact with, get them in our system and we’ll get them tested and make sure you’re safe, make sure we make all the right decisions."

This leaves the Giants looking to fill Bradberry’s spot, with safety Julian Love possibly seeing time there. Love, who has played safety in his two years with the Giants, played cornerback at Notre Dame and was a finalist in college for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the best defensive back in college.

"It’s next man up," safety Jabrill Peppers said. "Whoever’s out there is going to be prepared. We have the utmost faith in Julian . . . He was a Thorpe Award finalist for a reason. He’s a sure tackle out there and we know he’s going to compete."

Cornerback Darnay Holmes (knee), who didn’t play last week, also is out for Sunday.

Notes & quotes: TE Evan Engram (calf) was limited in practice and is listed as questionable. TE Kaden Smith also is questionable. RB Devonta Freeman has been designated to return to practice. Freeman, who’s battled ankle and hamstring injuries, was placed on IR in mid-November and hasn’t played since the Giants' Week 7 loss to the Eagles . . . Al Michaels will not be on the call for this Sunday night’s game on NBC. Mike Tirico will handle play-by-play because Michaels has not been cleared to work in accordance with NBCUniversal’s COVID-19 safety protocols, a release from NBC sports said. Michaels has no symptoms and feels great, he said in the release.