Can the Giants exercise their demons in Philly? | Blue Rush

What's going on everyone? Welcome to week nine. Brandon London here with our longtime Giants beat writer for the Post, Paul Schwartz. We're back in football mode. Giants are back on the field today as we record this. A lot of news that's going to come out of that practice. A lot of people anxious and waiting to hear about. Who John Harbaugh is going to have for him available for this game down at the link. But Paul, let's first start with this Greg Newsome extension news. The Giants signing him to a little extension there. And the guys kind of earned it so far. So what can you tell us about Greg Newsome and what that could mean for any other guys they may be looking at to lock up before the season ends? Well, it's a great message, isn't it? You know what I mean? Greg Newsome was a former first-round pick. Didn't do great last year with the Jaguars. Different scheme. Signs a one-year, $8 million, totally prove-it contract, right? You know, some incentives in there, but, you know, he was a better player than that. Didn't think the market was great. Some guys got signed earlier. Comes here and prove it. I did not think he would be able to prove it in six games. He only played six games. He didn't play last week. He was out with a concussion. So. Giants take advantage of the bye week and signed him to a three-year, $46 million extension. You know, what is he, 26, 27 years old? He's played terrific. He is a... He's got a presence. You know, he's one of those Northwestern guys. You know, they kind of have a thing to them. You know, they're sharp guys. I mean, that's kind of a generalization, but I think it often is true. Fit in like a glove, wants to play, you know, aggressive press man corner stuff. He's a big statuesque guy. Speaks very well, already has leadership quality, so why not lock him up, right? Now, it's interesting because, you know, a month or two ago, we said, oh my gosh, we don't know what they have at cornerback, right? You know, Deontay Banks is unproven. Newsom is, you know, didn't do well with the Jaguars. Paulson Adebo's not coming off a good year. Colton Hood's a rookie. Okay, now what do we do? Well, how do we look at it now? Deontay Banks is playing the best football of his career by far. Newsome has been terrific. Adebo lost his job, lost his starting job, got hurt, came back and played well last week. And Colton Hood got some reps early and now is taking the, assuming the typical rookie wait and learn and, you know, earn it type thing. Where do we go from here? Adibo's under contract for next year. Newsome is now under contract for three years. Colton Hood is under contract for three more years as a rookie. That brings us to Deontay Banks, right? He's going to get paid, right? He's going to get paid. And whether they can work out something now, I don't know if they can. Here's the way I was told. Look. Newsom earned it, and now you have insurance in case you lose Deontay Banks, and you have Colton Hood, a second-round pick, a high second-round pick, waiting in the wings along with Adebo. Are they better with Deontay Banks? At this point, unquestionably, you can't sign everybody, so I don't think they chose Newsom over Banks. I just think Newsom was the easier sign right now, and, you know, it feels that Banks is probably going to want to play this out and maybe test free agency. If he keeps playing like this, he will get a bigger contract than the one Greg Newsome just got. Yeah, I mean, Greg Newsome definitely earned it, but yeah, Taye Banks, whatever his price is at the end of the year, whatever he signs with, whether it be Giants, elsewhere, who knows what, you know, business is business, he's definitely earned it at this point. Whatever he signs for in the offseason, he's earning this season, but yeah, great insurance policy for the Giants. Greg Newsome just did a 50-yard walk and talk with him for Giants.com. Yeah, like you say, wants to be here. Good piece for the locker room. That's a nice piece to kind of lock up. Good insurance policy. Another guy who came out in his debut and shown that he could be a potential great insurance policy or whatever. A big question mark in the offseason. J.J. McCarthy, pause. J.J. McCarthy versus Joe Mixon in this game, week nine. When the schedule came out, no one in the world would have been able to put that on their bingo card. That is, these two are going to be the two quarterbacks starting in this football game. But what about, when we talk about like storylines and the way things, the NFL gods can kind of help with a player's story and his journey. For J.J. McCarthy, if you just out-dueled C.J. Stroud, if you go into the link, you go in there and put on a good enough show in Philly, that back-to-back win or back-to-back debut, back-to-back starts, Paul, those two wins mean more if he can get this win down in the link. What do you think? Well, I think it's right. It's incredible, right, that Joe Milton was not on the Eagles and J.J. McCarthy was not on the Giants when the season started. And now. They're going against each other. You know, the Eagles decided to bench Tanner McKee. Did not play well. Lost three starts. Not all his fault, but he didn't play great. He clearly wasn't the answer. You know, Joe Milton has been one of those guys that, like, Giants fans have always, oh, why don't we sign Joe Milton? Why don't we sign Joe Milton? Didn't Wasn't great with Michigan. Was better, but not great with Tennessee. 6'5", 235 pounds. An unbelievably strong arm. you You know, people say he can throw at 80. So he's big arm, good athlete, very has never made a start in the NFL. Giants played him, don't forget, last year in week 18, right? much. Remember the Cowboys? Dak Prescott started and left at halftime, and they kind of put their backups in. Joe Milton was a backup for the Cowboys. Did not play well. Didn't play well against the Giants. The Giants won that game going away. You know, I have no idea what to expect from Joe Milton. I do have something that I think I expect from Denard Wilson, and that is we're going to get after this kid in his first NFL start. You know, he's been around the NFL block a little bit, Milton, but it's his first start. He's been in five games, right, in his NFL career, not starting. So very interesting, unexpected. And, yeah, J.J. McCarthy, you know, it's funny. Talking to him in the locker room, you know, going on the podium. He's an incredibly accessible player. He can just go shoot the, shoot the, you know, shoot the. Stuff with him anytime you want. Just go talk to him. Very pleasant. I talked to him the other day about his wife and his one-year-old son coming. Finally, after a month coming to live with him, he said that's going to really help him a lot because he really missed him for a month. FaceTime with a one-year-old, Brandon, is not the same, right? It's tucking him into bed at night and giving him his breakfast. No, no. Not the same. It's funny. JJ said, you forget these guys. He's 23 years old, okay? He's been married. He knew his wife when they were 15-year-old sweethearts, okay? They've been together a long time. He said when he left Minnesota, you know, you got to leave, right? You know, you get traded to the Giants. You got to leave the next day. He said his son was kind of... He's walking, stumbling, moving around. He said, you know, I mean, he was walking, but he didn't miss his first steps. But a month later, he said he's running around. He's running backwards. He's running forwards. So you miss a lot in a month, right? So he's glad to have them back. And it's kind of hard to forget. It's kind of hard to remember that. He's been around a month, you know what I mean? He's fit in so seamlessly right now as Jameis' backup, and now he's the starter. He's going to be the starter unless something crazy happens, he gets hurt, or there's a series of games where he doesn't play well. But we have to. He's pumped the brakes a little bit. He started one game for the Giants. And so let's see. It will be, this is fascinating, right? You have no idea what to expect from him, and neither do I, unless you tell me you do. I don't know what to expect from him. Is he going to be great? Is he going to be like he was in Houston? Is he going to be okay? Is he going to revert to maybe some of that Vikings form? Um, he's, he seems comfortable, comfortable, confident, you know, going, I asked him about going on the road. He's played in all the biggest road venues in college football ever. Um, you know, he's played in some certainly in the NFL. So this is a work in progress and it's going to be very interesting to see how he does in the link where we have both been many times on the very wrong end of the score for the Giants. I think we see his legs a little bit more going up against this big Fangio defense that cover four rush four drop, you know, play quarter coverage behind it a lot over the top, you know, they're going to try and take Malik Nabers out of there. I think he did a great job against that against the Texans and kind of somewhat of a similar scheme. And then if they do try and I mean, they had a lot of success throwing the football to the outside of the field. So anytime you have a young quarterback, and you don't have to have him force the ball across the middle. Like they say, tips and overthrows, got to have those on defense. I think that just keeps Matt Nagy comfortable with the play calls they can have for him. But. But again, if he needs to use his feet, he didn't have to use his feet that much. I believe he sacked like two or three times, but no real design QB runs or he didn't really scramble that much. So I think just go be yourself in this moment, Paul. You know, that's what I would say to the kid. Just go, because it's already set up for you. Your success story, your redemption story, if you want to call it that, for a 23-year-old and only his, I guess you could say his second year in the NFL, even though, you know, it's his third. You're already going through a redemption season. Like, it's right there. His story, the storyline is right there in front of him. And all he has to do is just go use the weapons that's already there. It's not like you're stepping into... Let's see, a Giants quarterback of the past, like Jake Fromm or Glennon or Mike Glennon or one of those guys. Didn't have the playmakers as a whole on the perimeter like a J.J. McCarthy, Jackson Dart, Jameis Winston has had. So it's been a luxury for this year's Giants quarterbacks to be able to have the upgrade in pass catcher and tight end run game kind of pretty much about the same. And then now you have, oh, outside, we'll have in Saquon, but... The production was still kind of the same anyway because the offensive line was really kind of weak when Saquon was here. But I'm talking as a whole, the weapons on the outside, Malachi Fields, Malik Nabers, and these guys, I think J.J. McCarthy and these backup quarterbacks are in a position to win, and all he has to do is be himself. Paul, I've been talking to the fans. They love the show, whether it's I'm at a watch party or I'm walking around at the games. You have a lot of fans around in MetLife Stadium. So I'm always asking the fans to send in a little video mailbag for Blue Rush so we can have a little bit of fun here. Here's our first one. Let's get a look at it, and then let's get your thoughts on it. What's up, Brandon? What's up, Paul? Quick question for you both coming out of this bye week. Where do you see the New York Giants headed in this second half of the season? A lot of people looking ahead of the season to the playoffs or the second half of the season. We've been kind of talking about this Eagles game, concentrating on that. But Paul, Giants, this is the kickoff to their second half of the season, or at least after the bye. Do you think this team can handle now being the favorites in these football games? Well, you know what? Tune in on Friday, right? Because they've got the Eagles on Sunday and the Commanders on Thursday night back at MetLife Stadium. So it comes, you know, John Harbaugh said right after they beat the Texans, these next two games will kind of set the foundation and the pathway for us for the rest of the year. And it will. I mean, if they win these next two games, they're completely in the driver's seat in the division. There's no question about it. They will have buried the Eagles. They will have buried the Commanders. Um, the Cowboys are doing a pretty good job of burying themselves. You know what I mean? So, um, you know, the Giants certainly still have to go to Dallas. You know, if you look ahead at the schedule, we all said, oh my gosh, you know, the beginning, they have to get through some of these easier games, quote unquote, because then it gets really tough. They have what of the next nine games, including the Commanders. Let's take the Eagles out because we're talking about them this week. They only have four games against playoff teams. Because the Cowboys are not a playoff team. The Eagles are not a playoff team. Jaguars, 49ers, at Seattle, at Detroit. So if they can navigate their way, look, they're not going to run the table here. They're not in the same class of the 49ers, I don't think. Going to Seattle is not mission impossible, but it's the next thing. Going to Detroit, that is a real difficult assignment. We're getting ahead of ourselves here. I want to look to, I don't want to sound like John Harbaugh, want to know, but. I have been to the link so many times and seen so much bad football and some good football, but no wins since 2013 that I think they can purge a lot of demons, certainly with the fans. I mean, Harbaugh doesn't have these demons. J.J. McCarthy doesn't have these demons. You know, some of the players don't have these demons. You know, Malachi Fields and Isaiah Likely don't have these feelings of these demons. You know. You know, Malik Nabers has some of them, certainly. Andrew Thomas. Yeah, they have those because they've lost in the link. They win this game. I think it really, the Eagles aren't good. We know that right now, but they're not an easy team to beat, even though they're so depleted. So if you can go in there and do that, I think that really says a lot to set them up for the second half. I really do. Let's get to the second video mailbag question that we have. This is my guy Germ from the J18 tailgate, the SOG at J18 tailgate. I hang out there a lot. Paul, you got to come by one time. Let's check out what Germ has to say here. What's going on, Paul? What's going on, Brandon? Thanks for taking my question. I want to know, is this the year we host the first playoff game in MetLife in a long time? I feel the division's ours. Let me know your thoughts and opinions. Thanks for taking my question. Can the Giants host their first playoff game since January of 2012? I'm a one-game-at-a-time guy, Paul. I can't look past practice today, let alone the playoffs. Is the storyline, at least, do you think the storyline there is home playoff game or bust for this Giants team with how everything looks in the path that's in front of them? Well, yes. I mean, boy, John Harbaugh did not give us these questions, did he? Because he does not like these kind of questions. If I say they're in the driver's seat to win the division, that means they get a home playoff game. You know, that's what happens. Whether you win seven, eight, nine, or ten games, if you win the division, you get a home playoff game. And so you have to readjust the bar as the season goes on. You know, in the summer, if I said to you the bar was winning the division, you would say that's unfair. That is an unfair bar to set from the Giants. Seven games in, you say that is totally fair. So, yeah. I mean, I remember MetLife Stadium has had, what, one home playoff game between the Giants and the Jets. Was that the Falcons game? Um, the. The Falcons playoff game. Yeah, they gave up, what, two points, the Giants, in that game? They totally dominated. Who would have thought that all these years later they would still have not have been a playoff game in MetLife Stadium? I'm sure that's what season ticket holders and staunch fans are thinking. Man, if we can just get a home playoff game in the cold, in that gray, unloved building in January, right? That's what you want. We're getting ahead of ourselves. The next home game will be Thursday night against the Commanders. There's a game Sunday at the Link, as we said. But yeah, that's the bar right now. The bar right now is to win a division. There's no question about it. Final thoughts, Paul, on this Eagles-Giants game. Any questions, concerns, comments, you can leave the people. Anything have you feeling uneasy when it comes to this matchup on Sunday? Well, a couple of things uneasy. Yeah, who's going to be the running back? You know, I mean, it's going to be Motor Singletary. He'll probably start. Don't forget, he was so down on the depth chart that he was a healthy scratch in three straight games, right? And then, you know, they finally, you know, they cut Najee Harris, and he comes in, and, oh, by the way, he runs for 30 yards in a game-winning touchdown in Houston, right? Cam Skattebo did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. Don't forget, on that 42-yard run in Houston. He pulled up. He hurt his hamstring. He's, I'll say it right now. He's not going to play on Sunday. He's not going to be ready. You don't come back from a hamstring if you don't practice. So he's not going to play. Tyrone Tracy is on IR. He's not going to play for the next four games. So, I mean, if any Giants fan can just rattle off the names of the running backs on the roster right now, more power to you. It is Devin Singletary. It is, I don't even know exactly how to say, Greg. They're Sawyers? D Rose. D Rose. D Rose. Oh, there you go. DeRose. UMass guy. UMass guy who won last night. My guys won last night. Five wins. He He's a Louisville guy. He's a UMass guy. He's a Memphis guy. He's a lot of guys guy. You know, he's been to a lot of programs. But he was not drafted. He's a portal guy. He's a portal guy. Yeah. Yeah. He's on the practice squad of the Chargers. The Giants had all these injuries. They signed him. You know, Jim Harbaugh. Must have talked to John and said, yeah, he's not bad. We'll sign him. They have Phil Maffah, right? A seventh-round pick of the Cowboys last year. He's on the practice squad. They can bring him up. They re-signed Eric Gray to the practice squad. Thank you, Todd. You know, I mean, we're talking, you know, who's who of running backs that nobody knows. So you mentioned J.J. McCarthy will have to run a little more. Motor Singletary was fourth on the depth chart a few weeks ago. Now will be the starter. So that really concerns me. Can they run the ball and who will run the ball? That's a big concern. So, Paul, with those concerns, do you feel as though John Harbaugh, with everything he said already to you guys' media and to the fan base, he is going to be highly aggressive at the trade deadline? Do you feel like with everything, all those factors, John Harbaugh, Joe Shane are going to be aggressive at the deadline? I think they'd like to be, yeah. I mean, the last word I heard, and this was Thursday afternoon, is the Giants. Kind of don't think that Jonathan Taylor is going to be moved right now out of Indianapolis. You know what I mean? I mean, they don't, I mean, Jonathan Taylor is beloved. He's very close to the owner with the Colts. He is a class act. He is the face of the franchise. Daniel Jones isn't the face of the franchise. You know, Quenton Nelson was, you know, a Hall of Fame caliber guard, but he wasn't the face of the franchise. Jonathan Taylor is the face of the franchise. If you trade him, you have to get an unbelievable haul because it is not a popular move in the building, out of the building, anywhere. I don't know if anyone's going to give them an incredible haul right now for Jonathan Taylor. If I were the Giants, would I give him a second and a third, you know, one in 27, one in 28? I probably would do that. He's terrific, and he's still 27, and he's signed for good money, but not crazy money, considering what these running backs are getting. I think he's a difference maker. Do I think it puts the Giants in the Super Bowl? I do not. I would be surprised if the Giants don't get a running back. of some caliber that will help them. Don't forget, Tracy will be out another three games after this. We'll see who it is. You know, is it Tony Pollard, maybe? I don't think it's going to be Derrick Henry. We'll see. We'll see. You know, can they get Grover Stewart? You know, let's not forget about the Colts here. You know, maybe, you know, they're in a fire sale. Maybe they can get Grover Stewart. So instead of getting a guy to help run the ball, they can get a guy to help stop the run. Now, he's a free agent after this year, so that's a rental. You know, that's a nine-game rental. Thank They want to be aggressive. I don't think they're going to be crazy, stupid, just throwing draft picks, you know, F them picks like the Rams did. But, you know, don't forget, the trade deadline is Tuesday. So we will, if nothing happens before Sunday, we will know after Sunday. What happens if the Giants lay an egg in Philly? you. Maybe they say, oh my gosh, we need help. Or maybe we got to hold off here. If they win, they go. We got to keep moving. We've got this. We got to keep going. Are the Colts really going to let Jonathan Taylor play on Sunday, which it seems like they are? That is a huge risk for a guy you want to trade or you're thinking of trading. He's one turned ankle away from saying, okay, we had a deal, but now it's off. Now it's off. So a lot moving on. I think the Giants would like to be aggressive, but it takes two to tango. Put it this, I'll be surprised if they don't bring someone who can either help in the running game or help stop the run by Tuesday. Giants-Eagles trade deadline, a lot coming up in Giants land, but it all starts with if J.J. McCarthy can put together another great performance and lead this Giants team to another W. For Paul Schwartz, I'm Brendan London. We appreciate you guys watching Blue Rush Preview Show for the New York Post Sports.