New York Giants: Pat Shurmur Talks Sam Beal Progress

New York Giants head coach, Pat Shurmur.
May 11, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur seen during rookie minicamp at Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Friday. Mandatory Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY SPORTS

The cornerback situation for the New York Giants isn’t yet decided. One of the key players was set to be Sam Beal, who is still waiting to play in the NFL after an unfortunate injury in training camp last year took him out for the entirety of the season, but Beal is still one of the higher rated corners on the Giants roster despite that setback.

Although, it seems that familiar problems might haunt Beal again, because while his season hasn’t been ended this time by an injury, he might miss the preseason finale and the season opener because of a more minor one than last season’s.

Head coach Pat Shurmur offered his thoughts on Sunday about Beal and his progress coming back from injury. “He was out there today for the first time. He’s closer. We’ll just have to see where he’s at as we move forward,” Shurmur stated.

“I’d like to see him get healthy and get on the field. That’s what I’d like to see,” Shurmur also said, and additionally, the head coach claimed that he’s not frustrated by the fact that Beal hasn’t gotten playing time in the past two years. “I’m not frustrated by it. Obviously, being able to compete through training camp… He’s a second-year player, but last year was like year zero. This is year one. The work that he would have gotten had he been healthy would have been very beneficial.”

Will Beal play in the last preseason game against New England, which will likely be important in deciding any position battles that aren’t yet done? The answer hasn’t been decided yet, according to Shurmur, and will depend on Beal’s health.

“I’d like to see them all play. We’ll just have to see where he’s at. It would be good for him to play if he’s healthy enough. But we don’t want to put him out there too soon.”

With corner being a position of interest for the Giants, or rather, a position of need for the past year or two, Beal making a comeback before the regular season would greatly benefit the team going into week one and give further competition to Deandre Baker, one of the team’s first round draft picks. Only time can tell, though, if that comeback will be possible or not – there’s still the better part of a week left to determine whether or not Beal is ready, after all.