The New York Giants seem confident in their current talent level, as they head into an important Thursday Night Football matchup with the New England Patriots. The game, of course, has a chance to be one of two things – it could be a chance for Daniel Jones and the rest of the team to shine against one of the premier teams in the league, and something to breathe life back into the season. Or it could be a national TV embarrassment such as some of the ones that the Giants had last season as success slipped further and further away.
One would think that for such an important game the team might bring in a veteran running back from free agency, due to Saquon Barkley and Wayne Gallman being out with an ankle injury and concussion respectively, but it doesn’t seem that’s the case.
Rather than going for a free agent option like Jay Ajayi, the team is handing the keys to the running game, at least for this week, over to Elijhaa Penny and Jon Hillman. The former, of course, typically plays at fullback while the latter is an undrafted rookie who was promoted recently from the practice squad. It’s not the lineup anyone predicted the Giants coming into the game with.
“He has good vision. He has good collision balance. To this point, when we’ve handed it to him, he’s secured it well. Those are all of the elements that you’re looking for in a runner,” Shurmur said about Penny. “We’ll see how much he plays tailback. He’s listed as a fullback, but when we put him in at tailback, we expect him to do tailback things.”
A game against the Patriots is, of course, one big way to introduce Penny to the tailback role as a member of the Giants. Penny has only had to carry the ball sporadically for the Giants in the past, which might raise some eyebrows as far as the Giants’ decision to stick with what they have now instead of bringing in a more experienced player to try to give some help to Daniel Jones and the rest of the offense.
The Patriots defense, after all, is a tough one that shouldn’t be taken lightly, and after entering the game as a sixteen point underdog according to some sources, it will be hard for the Giants to steal a win without coming into the game in the absolute best condition they can manage.