New York Giants Week 7: Postgame Musings and Takeaways

Some leftover thoughts following the New York Giants' 25-3 win over the Carolina Panthers...

1. I don't profess to be a trainer or a medical expert. But in thinking about this rash of hamstring injuries that have struck the receivers and branched out to the cornerbacks (Sam Beal), I can't help but wonder if the Giants' post-practice conditioning is worth looking into here.

Before I go any further, first, a disclaimer. The Giants don't allow the media to watch the whole practice. We're not allowed back to the patio until the last of the conditioning is done, so I'm basing this opinion on what I saw during training camp. And what I saw was the entire team asked to run post-practice sprints.

On the surface, that's not a big deal because the last thing you want to see is the players dragging late in the game. But lately, I've been wondering if it's wise to ask player groups like the receivers and corners, who do a lot of running as-is during practice, to do extra conditioning.

I use this analogy a lot and will use it again here. It's like taking a rubber band and continuing to stretch it over and over. Eventually, the band is going to weaken and snap if you overuse it.

Again, I'm not a medical or sports science expert, but this is the only logical explanation I can come up with regarding why all of a sudden, the Giants have so many hamstring issues.

2. I have nothing against Sam Beal, but I continue to wonder why the Giants bothered to keep him on the 53-man roster. This guy missed his entire rookie season, half his second season, and opted out of his third season.

All that missed time put him so far behind the eight-ball that it spoke volumes how rookie Rodarius Williams, before his season-ending ACL injury, was getting playing time ahead of Beal.

The only logical explanation I can think of is that someone in the Giants organization still believes in Beal's talent. But that talent remains so raw and underdeveloped that one seriously has to wonder why Beal, drafted in the third round of the 2018 supplemental draft out of Western Michigan, is taking up a roster spot if he's not going to be on the field that much.

3. I'm thrilled to finally be writing about a win. That said, let's try to keep everything in perspective.

The Panthers, with all due respect, are not playing very good football right now. They came into this game with probably more issues than the Giants did on the offensive side of the ball.

That said, I think we can all be pleased that the Giants not only won a game they should have won, but that they also did so convincingly. If this Giants team is to ever start stacking wins against the really good teams on back-to-back weeks, they need to beat the teams they are supposed to beat, like the Panthers, to build confidence and momentum for when they have to face the better teams.

4. There was an interesting note at the start of the FOX broadcast by sideline reporter Shannon Spake. Spake reported that Judge was so fed up with his team's losing ways that he abandoned "load management" for the players and had them go hard at practice this past week.

To that, I say it's about time. I get it that the team is banged up, but this concept of load management for guys not on the injury report has long been a head-scratcher. Football is a hard and physical game where you don't know what your workload is going to be on either side of the ball any given week.

So for a head coach to put his players on a pitch count during practice is kind of silly if you think about it if the players in question have to do a little more than expected in a game only to be gassed by the time the fourth quarter rolls around.

5. Several people have wondered how on earth the Giants are going to evaluate quarterback Daniel Jones when he hasn't had his full supporting staff around him.

I think in having watched Jones's performance this week, Jones made yet another round of convincing arguments that he is indeed worthy of carrying this franchise for the next several years.

Let's face it. Quarterbacks rarely get the perfect environment in which to function. Those who usually have the staying power learn to survive regardless of what things around them look like.

In other words, you rarely, if ever, see Jones have a meltdown if he's batted around behind his offensive line (as he was at times this week) or if his receivers are dropping passes, or if things just aren't clicking.

The good ones stay on even ground when that happens. Similarly, the good ones don't get too caught up in the euphoria of what's happening around them when things are going well.

Thus far, Jones has been almost Eli Manning-like in the face of adversity, which is reassuring for a franchise that has had more downs than ups since he's arrived, but which also hopes for better days ahead.

But the other thing to like and appreciate about Jones is how his athleticism was deployed by a creative Jason Garrett this week to compensate for the missing talent due to injury.