Da’Rel Scott made his first NFL start in Kansas City. Two days later, he was waived by the Giants. And now, with the status of David Wilson very much up in the air after he came out of the loss to the Eagles with a neck injury, Scott on Tuesday will be re-signed, exactly a week after the Giants cut him loose.
This is certainly a sad state of affairs for the Giants running game, the NFL’s worst, averaging a meager 56.8 yards per game. Wilson scored his first touchdown of the season but on the final play of the first quarter he was thrown down for a three-yard loss – it probably should have been ruled a safety for the Eagles – and came away with a neck injury that kept him out the remainder of the game.
Wilson a few hours after the game tweeted that his neck was fine and he would be good to go for Thursday night’s game in Chicago but that now appears unlikely. Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Wilson experienced “some kind of tingling’’ and that does not bode well for a quick turnaround.
“He’s got an injury and he’s being thoroughly evaluated and we’ll see the results,” Coughlin said. “Hopefully, we’ll get some results about that. He has to have a full medical appraisal of what happened. We’ll wait on that.”
Hence, the need for Scott, who in four games had 16 rushing attempts for 56 yards, plus 10 receptions for 98 yards. The other running backs on the roster are Brandon Jacobs – who lost a fumble against the Eagles – and rookie Michael Cox, who has yet to play on offense. The return of Jacobs has not been invigorating, as he is averaging exactly one yard per carry, 11 rushes for 11 yards.