Janoris Jenkins was not wrong when he said after Sunday’s loss to the Bills that the Giants needed more pressure from their pass rush, but the cornerback believes he has cleared the air with his teammates that were on the receiving end of his postgame criticism.
“We talked as a team and as a defense. Things get misinterpreted,” Jenkins said Friday. “We handled it as grown men and we’re moving forward and looking forward to playing fast.”
Jenkins was frustrated after the loss, asking, “Who can cover somebody for 10 seconds?” and calling for more pressure on the quarterback. That seemed like a dig at his defensive linemen, but Jenkins said he wasn’t pointing fingers. Friday, he was asked what the media got wrong.
“I just made a comment like I made,” Jenkins said. “Y’all flipped it. I asked a question. Like I said, it’s in the past.”
Rookie wide receiver Darius Slayton participated in a full practice Friday and does not have a designation on the injury report. Coach Pat Shurmur said there is a “really good chance” he will make his NFL debut Sunday against the Buccaneers.
A hamstring issue limited Slayton to just one preseason game and forced him to sit out the first two games of the regular season.
But the Giants’ fastest receiver could be a new deep threat for Daniel Jones, whom Slayton has gotten plenty of reps with since they came in at the same time.“I think it’s huge,” Slayton said. “We came in together, did rookie camp together, did a lot of OTAs together. … I think we had a really good connection.”
Wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert said he was confident Slayton could step right in and make an impact.
“If you line up our entire team on the goal line and tell them to run a race, Slayton will probably win 10 out of 10 times,” Tolbert said. “He has that speed, that dimension, that we’ve been missing.”
Eli Manning will dress and be the No. 2 quarterback Sunday, Shurmur said.
WR Bennie Fowler (hamstring) is questionable while WR Cody Latimer (concussion) has been ruled out. … Buccaneers LB Devin White, who went one pick before Jones in April’s draft, will not play because of a knee injury.