For the sake of clarification and accuracy, let it be known the Giants this week welcome back Andre Brown and not Jim Brown.
This running-impaired team can be pardoned, though, if it looks at Andre Brown and sees a running back messiah. No one will think twice if the Giants sing out “Halfback Hallelujah!’’ as they finally add Brown to what suddenly is a crowded running back stable. What was lost is now found as the Giants, believe it or not, will have options as to who gets the ball Sunday when they face the Raiders at MetLife Stadium.
Sure, it’s an eclectic group, with two players — Brandon Jacobs and Peyton Hillis — who were not in the league at the start of the season, a rookie in Michael Cox, who stuck as a seventh-round draft pick, and Brown, who returns after twice breaking the fibula in his left leg. David Wilson remains out with a herniated disk in his neck that could curtail him for the remainder of the season.
The Giants aren’t expecting miracles from Brown, or are they?
“Forty carries and 15 receptions, run the kickoff back,’’ coach Tom Coughlin said of his expectations in Brown’s 2013 debut. “What else would you like?’’
When told of the expectations from his head coach, Brown’s eyes widened.
“Then you might as well go ahead and put a tombstone up with ‘RIP’ on it,’’ Brown said.
When assured Coughlin was kidding but that he did expect Brown to make an impact, Brown said: “I have to agree with him.’’
The hodgepodge approach has not worked very well, as the Giants are 30th in the NFL in rushing, averaging only 69.9 yards per game and only 3.2 yards per rushing attempt. The most effective, barely, has been Jacobs (3.5), followed by Wilson (3.3), Hillis (2.8) and Cox (2.1).
Jacobs, after his throwback 106-yard performance in Chicago, missed the past two games with a strained hamstring, but returned to practice on Wednesday. Figure Cox is the odd man out and the offensive game plan gives Brown some work and a shared approach with Jacobs and Hillis.
Brown last season finally showed he could be a solid runner, averaging 5.3 yards on his career-high 73 attempts before he went down against the Packers with a fractured left fibula, missing the final five games. Healed and healthy, Brown this season was expected to share the load with Wilson, but in the final preseason game he suffered another fracture in his left leg, landing him on short-term injured reserve.
Brown said he will wear a specially designed carbon fiber shin guard to protect his left leg.
“They said I probably will be wearing that for the rest of my career,’’ Brown said.
No one could have envisioned how deeply the loss of Brown short-circuited the rushing attack. Coughlin recalled the coaching staff believed it needed to see more from Brown back in the summer, which was why he received extended playing time in the last preseason game, which proved to be costly.
“I’m just thankful it wasn’t for the whole year,’’ Coughlin said of losing Brown. “A setback? Sure it was a setback. Quite frankly he was in a position where we needed him to play a little bit better, that’s why he played 19 plays in the last preseason game. Setback because he was hurt? No question. We went from two guys we felt could really go get it to down to just David.’’
What, realistically, can the Giants expect from Brown in his first live game action since the preseason?
“All I think about is when he played a year ago,’’ Coughlin said. “I’m looking forward to the return of that player, quite frankly. Size, speed, catch the ball out of the backfield. Does a good job in pass protection. I think sometimes you forget the guy is 230 pounds. It’s a little bit a different dimension.’’
Brown says “I’m ready to roll’’ and is “pretty sure’’ the plan is to sub the running backs in and out.
“Getting used to contact and seeing how that goes and making sure I hold onto the ball and picking up my pass protections and blitzes and stuff like that,’’ Brown said. “As long as I go out there and show that I’m solid in that point of the game I’m pretty sure they’ll let me rock.’’