The New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers will duke it out Thursday night after only three short days of resting. The anticipated match at Bank of America Stadium with star quarterbacks Eli Manning and Cam Newton will hopefully live up to expectations despite key injuries from both teams.
During Monday’s practice, the Giants were forced to rest a total of six players, including top notch players like running back Ahmad Bradshaw, tackle David Diehl, and wide receivers Domenik Hicks and Hakeem Nicks. Rookie cornerback Prince Amukamara who has yet to debut this season had a limited participation practice, which means he did not perform all of his normal tasks. Most of the injured players are listed day-to-day and did not participate in Tuesday’s practice either. Cornerback Michael Coe and defensive end Adewale Ojomo who are both suffering from hamstring injuries managed a lower work load participating in only some parts of the practice on Tuesday.
The statuses of Bradshaw, who suffered a neck injury and Hicks, who had a concussion, are still unknown. If they cannot start Thursday’s game, running back Andre Brown and wide receiver Ramses Barden will have to step up once again respectively. Brown had a stellar rushing performance in last week’s Giants game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Running back Da’Rel Scott, who has been out for two weeks, may see some playing time as well, participating in all of his practice repetitions on Tuesday. Barden had a great preseason and will have the opportunity to prove his skills once more.
Regardless of which running back will see the most play time, the Giants will still have a strong and quick offense, one that the Panthers must find a way to stop. Panthers head coach, Ron Rivera expressed his concerns over the Giant’s rushing this season.
“It [the Giants] really is one of the best pass rushing groups in the league, and what we do, and how we handle it is going to be paramount to our success. These guys are good rushers, they put pressure on you, and then you have guys that are ball hawkers out there. I think the secondary does a nice job putting themselves in positions to make plays. It’s a good football team, it really is. We just need to make sure we can handle the different phases of what they do.”
Other key players to watch for include linebacker Jacquian Williams and tight end Martellus Bennett. Williams is known for his speed, which will help him limit the fast Newton from running the ball. Although Williams has packed on more weight, he is still fast enough to challenge the speedy quarterbacks in the league. On the offensive end, Bennett has surely proven to be a vital target for Manning, who has thrown to him quite often so far.
The Panthers suffered the loss of nine players, all of which could not participate in Monday’s practice. Tuesday’s practice saw the return of four of the players, linebacker Jon Beason, center Ryan Kalil, and wide receivers Kealoha Pilares and Steve Smith who participated in only a limited number of plays. Running back Jonathan Stewart is still out on an ankle injury. Despite these injuries, the Panthers will have a strong and versatile offensive on the field.
Before the season, many people were worried about a Newton sophomore slump, and so far, his starts have been decent.
“I think his overall game has improved. You go back and look at where he started from, and the rawness of his abilities, and you see that his base fundamentals have gotten better. His footwork, his posture, his throwing mechanics have really improved. His decision making process has gotten better, those types of things. He really has taken steps forward in an overall sense, there really isn’t any one specific thing that he improved on specifically. To me, it’s his whole play,” Rivera said.
With both teams prepping for Thursday night football, both teams will have a hard fight to earn that second win of the season.
