The Giants are a battered team as they try to salvage something out of this lost season and get ready to face the Lions this Sunday in Detroit. There are 10 players listed on the injury report and not one of them was able to practice Wednesday, leaving coach Tom Coughlin almost searching for available bodies to get through the day.
Victor Cruz came out of the 23-0 loss to the Seahawks with a concussion and a knee injury, and Coughlin said both are affecting Cruz to the point where he cannot practice. There is virtually no way Cruz will make it back this weekend, and it is highly likely he also will miss the season finale against the Redskins.
“He’s going through the concussion protocol, but he does have a knee which will probably prevent him from doing anything,’’ Coughlin said.
Of the 10 players who sat out on Wednesday, Coughlin expressed hope that “hopefully tomorrow we’ll get three or four back.’’ Asked which players he expects to return, Coughlin smiles and said, “You want to roll the dice? Anybody that comes through the door we’ll be more than happy to wrap our arms around.’’
The offensive line is especially depleted, with right guard David Diehl (knee) and left guard James Brewer (ankle) both “sore,’’ according to Coughlin. If they cannot play, it leaves the Giants with seldom-used and completely unproven Brandon Mosley and Dallas Reynolds as replacements.
“We’re gonna have to,’’ Coughlin said when asked whether the Giants have enough on the offensive line to play a game.
Center Kevin Boothe expressed confidence Diehl and Brewer could make it back to play in Detroit. Diehl said his knee swelled up during last week’s loss to the Seahawks, but he is doing what he can to get back on the field.
Others who sat out: RB Peyton Hillis (concussion), DT Cullen Jenkins (knee), CB Trumaine McBride (groin), DE Jason Pierre-Paul (shoulder), S Cooper Taylor (hamstring) and CB Terrell Thomas (knee).
There were so few healthy bodies that Coughlin said Wednesday’s practice had to be “adjusted with half speed work and half jog-through. We’ll get all the learning in, but probably half of the speed work.’’
When asked whether he has been advised by doctors not to play again this season because of a lingering shoulder injury, Pierre-Paul said, “I don’t know anything about that.’’
“I’ve seen multiple doctors or whatever, but I don’t know anything about that,’’ Pierre-Paul said.
It is not often — or ever — Coughlin says he was “inspired’’ by Jerrel Jernigan, a third-year receiver who has done very little in his career. But Coughlin appreciated Jernigan’s effort against the Seahawks.
“His toughness was outstanding the other day,’’ Coughlin said. “Even running his kickoffs up in there, he barreled up in there and got knocked around from side to side, spun around, and then the play he made late where the big safety, [Kam] Chancellor, came and stuck him and he spun out of that and kept going. I was inspired by that.’’
Boothe on Lions bad-boy defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh: “I’ve seen him on TV. He doesn’t look that mean.’’