Giants security Xavier McKinney mentioned Wednesday that he believes prime nook Adoree Jackson (knee) will return to face the Minnesota Vikings in Sunday’s Wild Card playoff recreation.
“Oh yeah, he’s going to be there,” McKinney mentioned with fun. “He’s going to be there, for sure.”
Jackson was much less sure about coming back from his seven-game absence attributable to a sprained MCL.
“I’m not sure,” he mentioned after remaining restricted in follow. “We’re still taking it day by day. “[I’m doing] tests for the coaches. They always say they don’t wanna put you out there if you can hurt yourself or hurt the team.”
The man who can damage the Giants the worst on Sunday, nevertheless, is Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson.
He caught 12 balls for 133 yards and a landing within the Vikes’ Christmas Eve win over the Giants at U.S. Bank Stadium. Both McKinney and Jackson have been sidelined for that defeat.
Jefferson, the NFL’s main receiver with 1,809 yards this season, caught his landing in opposition to the Giants in double protection. And he made the 17-yard catch and run to arrange Greg Joseph’s 61-yard game-winning area aim on the buzzer.
McKinney, a former Alabama standout, remembers Jefferson properly from LSU. He has shattered myriad information via his three professional seasons. And Sunday can be Jefferson’s playoff debut on his house area in entrance of his followers.
“I played him in college so I know all the things that he can do,” McKinney mentioned. “He can single handedly take over a recreation, I’ve seen it, I’ve performed in opposition to it earlier than in school and I’ve seen it within the league loads of instances, all people has.
“He’s just a special route runner, catches a lot of crazy catches, and he’s just a tough matchup when he’s going against anybody,” the free security added. “You’ve got to make sure that you’re on your p’s and q’s when you’re facing him. It’s going to be a challenge for us, but we’ll be prepared and be ready.”
The finest approach the Giants might be prepared is to get Jackson wholesome.
He isn’t a shutdown nook, however he’s one of the best they’ve received.
Head coach Brian Daboll made a mistake by placing Jackson again at punt returner in Week 11 in opposition to the Detroit Lions.
Jackson received damage on a return, and immediately the Giants had misplaced one in every of their most essential defensive gamers for the remainder of the common season a minimum of.
Can he do all the pieces he must bodily on a soccer area? Jackson mentioned he nonetheless wants Thursday’s and Friday’s practices to check his physique out.
“That’s what I think this week’s practices are still for: testing everything out while I’m out there,” he mentioned.
The destiny of the Giants’ season might journey on the well being of Jackson’s knee — and on his potential to decorate within the franchise’s first playoff recreation in six years.
THE INJURY REPORT
Jackson, middle Jon Feliciano (again), OLB Azeez Ojulari (ankle), S Jason Pinnock (shoulder; pink non-contact jersey) and DL Leonard Williams (neck) have been restricted on Wednesday. McKinney (fingers) was full … Vikings CB Cam Dantzler (ankle/private matter) didn’t take part. C Garrett Bradbury (again), S Harrison Smith (knee) and LB Brian Asamoah (knee) have been restricted. DL James Lynch (shoulder) was full.
KAFKA A HOT COMMODITY
The Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans each have requested head teaching interviews with Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. Defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, oddly, has not acquired any identified overtures but.
“I’ve [gone] through it the last three years,” Daboll mentioned. “First of all I’d say it’s an honor. But the biggest thing is focusing on what you have to focus on, which I know Mike will. There will be a time and place, after the season, to talk about that.”
VEGAS, BABY, VEGAS!
The Giants’ 2023 schedule of opponents is about, and it’s imposing.
Daboll’s crew will go on the street 9 instances to the Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and New Orleans Saints, along with their NFC East journeys to Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington.
And their eight-game house slate will characteristic visits from the Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks, plus their division rivals.
The NFL determines the schedule via a three-year rotation of divisions as opponents, plus every crew’s end the earlier yr.
For 2023, the NFC East drew the NFC West’s 4 groups as their intraconference division opponents and the AFC East’s 4 groups as their interconference division opponents.
The Giants, because the NFC East’s third-place finisher, additionally received pitted in opposition to the third-place groups within the NFC North (Packers) and NFC South (Saints), in addition to the AFC West (Raiders) for the seventeenth recreation.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com
