The thousands upon thousands of empty gray seats tonight at MetLife Stadium will bear witness to what the paying customers think about preseason games in general and especially the most revolting one of them all — preseason game No. 4.
If you blink, you’ll miss the Giants starters in their cameo appearance on the field tonight and Patriots coach Bill Belichick might actually cover Tom Brady in protective bubble wrap and gently place him on the bench for the entire evening.
Money must be raked in, though, and evaluations must be made for roster spots 50, 51, 52 and 53. The Giants already have a pretty firm handle on how their team will be comprised, but with the final cut-down set for Friday, it is judgment day for several players on the fringe.
The positions where players have the most to gain, and lose:
Wide receiver
How many stick? Five? Possibly six? Four spots are set with Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks, Domenik Hixon and rookie Rueben Randle. Then it’s four players fighting for one or two spots. Most likely, diminutive Jerrel Jernigan stays, mainly because he’s a 2011 third-round pick and not for his work on the field, which has been spotty. Towering Ramses Barden, another slow-developing former third-rounder, needed to save his spot and he might have with his big performance against the Bears, but he doesn’t do much on special teams. Isaiah Stanback does, however, and he’s somewhat intriguing as a former college quarterback. The coaching staff seems to get a kick out of rookie free agent David Douglas, but he probably can be stashed away on the practice squad.
Defensive end
This is a tough neighborhood to join, with Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul and Osi Umenyiora already rooted in place. Adrian Tracy had the inside track at the No. 4 end spot, but while he has been hampered with a hamstring issue, rookie Adewale Ojomo amassed a team-leading three sacks. Tracy won’t play tonight but says he could if needed, and hopes the decision to keep him out is a sign he already has shown enough to keep him safe.
“I’m on the path to being healthier but I feel like there are things that have been done in order to preserve my health,’’ Tracy said. “This is not in my control whether or not I play. Hopefully come Friday, my best interest is in mind, if you understand what I am saying.’’
Cornerback
Michael Coe is suddenly an emergency starter, with Terrell Thomas and Prince Amukamara both out of commission. If Coe struggles tonight the Giants don’t really have a fall-back position, as rookie Jayron Hosley (toe) is hoping to be ready for the opener and Justin Tryon and Bruce Johnson are not starting-caliber players. Can Dante Hughes, a career backup in his previous five NFL seasons with the Colts and Chargers, be a surprise roster survivor?
Running back
Not exactly high-level drama here, unless you are Da’Rel Scott and Andre Brown competing for the last spot behind Ahmad Bradshaw, rookie David Wilson and D.J. Ware — although if both Scott and Brown were spectacular this summer (they weren’t), Ware might have been expendable. Scott possesses the dimension of speed and some special teams moxie, which likely gives him the edge on the more workmanlike Brown.
Linebacker
Always a load of these guys on the roster because they fill special teams assignments — a role keeping Spencer Paysinger safe as the seventh ’backer. If only seven stay, it’s bad news for Greg Jones.
Defensive tackle
At the start of the summer, first-year player Dwayne Hendricks and rookie seventh-round pick Markus Kuhn looked like practice squad material but they’re on the roster with all the injuries at this spot, unless former Broncos starter Marcus Thomas unseats one of them. If the Giants think Marvin Austin’s back is going to be an ongoing problem they may have to put him on season-ending injured reserve.
Quarterback
Not really any issue here but at some point the Giants are going to have to protect Ryan Perrilloux on the roster or else another team is going to scoop him up. The youngster has looked excellent, but coach Tom Coughlin won’t keep three QBs and David Carr is the backup to Mr. Eli Manning.