Giants safety Logan Ryan ready to roll after missing two games with COVID-19
Giants defensive back Logan Ryan participates in a drill during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford, N.J., on Aug. 3, 2021. Credit: Brad Penner
Logan Ryan had the scene storyboarded in his mind.
"I wanted to pull up in the parking lot with my uniform on and run in right before kickoff," he said.
That made-for-the-movies entrance never came about as Ryan wound up missing two games after contracting COVID-19.
"I had hopes and thoughts and prayers that I could make it to both games," he said. "I thought it was a possibility. I packed my equipment bag for both. I did everything I could."
The Giants' safety cleared the league’s protocols earlier this week and was activated off COVID/reserve on Tuesday. He practiced on Wednesday and will be back on the field Sunday against the Dolphins… with a far less dramatic entrance.
Ryan said he is glad he was vaccinated and that he had "pretty mild" flu-like symptoms from the virus.
"I was doing everything I could holistically," he said. "Not what Aaron Rodgers was doing, but I was taking vitamins and drinking water… I encourage people to treat it seriously and encourage people vaccinated or not, stay masked up and keep doing everything we can because it’s still going around."
During his isolation he tried to stay in shape by bouncing on a trampoline with his kids a few hours a day. He was running extra sprints after practice Wednesday to try to get his wind back after the nearly two weeks away from football.
Missing the two games was hard, but Ryan said there was one play in particular that gnawed at him. It was in the game against the Bucs on Nov. 22 when Tom Brady faked a handoff to Leonard Fournette and, with his back to the defense, told his running back what coverage the Giants were in.
"Cover-2," he said as he breezed past Fournette before turning and completing a pass.
"That’s when I wish I was there to help disguise that a little bit better," Ryan said.
He’ll be out there this Sunday.
"My brother said it to me best," Ryan said. "He said: ‘You’re feeling well. It’s like going to jail. You do the time, don’t let the time do you."
NOTES & QUOTES: WR Sterling Shepard (quad) was projected as a non-participant in practice but was stretching with the team and seemed close to a return after missing the past three and a half games. He has not played since Nov. 1 … WR Kadarius Toney (oblique/quad), TE Kaden Smith (knee), CB Adoree’ Jackson (quad), TE Kyle Rudolph (ankle) and WR John Ross (illness) were also listed as non-participants … Joe Judge wore an Ole Miss hat on Wednesday after his alma mater, Mississippi State, lost to them in the Egg Bowl on Saturday. He’d wagered TE Evan Engram on the game. "A bet’s a bet," he said.
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.
