Yes, coach Pat Shurmur said he projects what the offense will look like with Odell Beckham Jr. and Saquon Barkley, two fairly big cogs in the machinery, both sitting out once again Friday night as the Giants beat the Jets 22-16 in their annual preseason tussle at MetLife Stadium.
“You just watch it for what it is with the guys in there with the idea with those guys might be playing for you,’’ Shurmur said.
The Giants certainly hope and expect “those guys’’ — Beckham and Barkley — will be on the field Sept. 9 in the regular-season opener against the Jaguars.
Any offense out on the field for the Giants that does not include Beckham and Barkley is a facsimile of the real thing and must be graded on a curve. There were some nice moments as Eli Manning aired it out, completing 17 of 23 passes for 188 yards in one-half of work, yet Manning and the starters — sans Beckham and Barkley — failed to come up with a single touchdown in six first-half possessions.
Beckham might want hold out for a few more bucks in his contract negotiations. The Giants are not very potent without him.
“I thought there were some good things and some things to improve on,’’ Manning said.
The Giants lost one of their key offensive players with 5:21 left in the second quarter, after tight end Evan Engram was crushed by Avery Williamson and Darron Lee, hit the ground hard and came away with a concussion.
Manning did not play last week in Detroit and you have to figure he will not play much, if at all, in the preseason finale against the Patriots. This represented his most extensive summer work and he moved well and threw the ball crisply. But the best Manning could do was produce four field goals and convert only one of his seven third-down opportunities. Twice, he was handed the ball deep in Jets territory (the 16 and 30 yard lines) and gained very little. On his longest completion, a 54-yard floater to Cody Latimer, Manning slightly under-threw the route and Latimer — who had Morris Claiborne beat by several steps — had to wait for the ball. If he had caught it in stride, it would have been a 60-yard touchdown.
“I think it was a good throw,’’ Shurmur said. “We connected on a very long play.’’
Manning said he was initially looking for Sterling Shepard on an over-route, but the play-fake was so effective in decoying the Jets’ safety that the throw had to be adjusted once Latimer broke free.
“I probably could have put it out a little further and let him score a touchdown,’’ Manning said.
As it turned out, the Giants’ offense did not produce any touchdowns all night, as the only time the Giants hit the end zone was on Hunter Sharp’s 55-yard punt return.
The pass protection was solid, but the run-blocking was suspect. They ran it nine times in the first half and actually managed to gain only one yard. That is not easy to do. The right side of the line, with Patrick Omameh at guard and Ereck Flowers at tackle, has struggled. Rookie right guard Will Hernandez was called for a holding penalty on a running play.
The output this spring and summer and the preseason games may force the Giants to rethink their take on Jonathan Stewart, the veteran running back signed to get the tough yards and mentor the rookie Barkley. The mentor part is going fine, but Stewart, 31, has shown nothing with the ball in his hands. In 10 preseason rushing attempts, Stewart has minus-five yards.
In this game, Stewart got nothing going (three carries, minus-seven yards) and lost the ball on a fumble when Williamson stood him up and stripped the ball away, allowing defensive lineman Leonard Williams to scoop it up.
“We just got to look at it,’’ Shurmur said of Stewart. “He’s a veteran player, he’s played football a very long time and he’s an outstanding player and so we’ll just look at it.’’
Second-year back Wayne Gallman looks much quicker and more effective than Stewart and Shurmur will have to determine if what he has seen in the preseason indicates a change in the depth chart is in order. Stewart, after 10 seasons with the Panthers, signed a two-year, $6.8 million contract with the Giants, who guaranteed $3.45 million, making this a deal they cannot get out of easily.
“I was pleased with the way we threw the ball, especially with the ones,’’ Shurmur said. “Not pleased with the way we ran the ball, certainly.’’
Three Giants takeaways
- Davis Webb showed off his arm on a 47-yard completion to Alonzo Russell, but was a bit too strong on some of his other deep throws. Finding the perfect balance of touch and power on his downfield passing is going to be a constant battle for Webb, who finished up hitting on 5 of 11 passes for 73 yards. He was sacked once.
- Hunter Sharp giveth, Hunter Sharp taketh away. The speedy second-year receiver started the game with a dropped pass on the left sideline and in the second quarter was wide open on a crossing pattern, but forgot to catch the ball, thrown directly into his midsection. In between, he had a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown. “Tomorrow I’m going to catch 200 freaking balls,’’ Sharp said.
- Ray-Ray Armstrong is going to make the team. The well-traveled 27-year old linebacker made a big play on special teams, putting a huge hit on Trenton Cannon on a kickoff return, causing a fumble that Jerell Adams recovered. Armstrong is already one of the Giants’ best linebackers in coverage and his excellence on special teams is going to solidify his spot on the roster. “He’s caught our eye,’’ coach Pat Shurmur said.