Will Hernandez tastes victory for first time since 2016 as Giants beat Lions
Giants guard Will Hernandez on the field following the preseason opener against the Browns at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on Aug. 9. Credit: Daniel De Mato
DETROIT — It was just a preseason game, but for some Giants it was much more than that. It was a win.
That’s something rookie guard Will Hernandez hasn’t experienced since Nov. 26, 2016. He was on a UTEP team that went 0-8 last season during his senior year.
“It’s been a while,” Hernandez said. “This means the world to me. Just the feeling alone is the reason why we play, so it definitely means a lot. I don’t care if it’s a preseason game. A win’s a win.”
It was also the first win for Pat Shurmur as a head coach since Dec. 9, 2012, when he was still with the Browns. Although he’s had plenty as an assistant coach since then, tallying this first with the Giants was a bit of a milestone for him.
“Even though everybody says the wins don’t matter [in the preseason], there’s a much different feeling in a locker room when you win a football game,” Shurmur said. “Last week we were disappointed. Today I was happy for our guys…We made a boatload of mistakes that we’ll clean up, and that’s what the preseason is all about, but they played hard, they played together and they found a way to score points.”
Now they have to do it in a game that counts. The quest for that begins Sept. 9 against the Jaguars.
“I’m definitely hungry for more,” Hernandez said. “I want to keep having this feeling as many times as possible.”
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.
