Auburn In The NFL Thread

[McLoofus 35,182]

LOL. Stid just completed a pass he never threw at Auburn to Ryan Davis on a route he never ran at Auburn. 

Hell of a job by RD on the play btw.

[WFE12 9,191]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

Don't think so.

Should be 3 tds for Stid. What a throw on that last one. With a bit of pressure, too. He already looks more confident than he did with his first possession.

I see Slayton didn't play either

[AUBwins 10,074]

Not a bad stat line on his birthday -first game. Check out the rushing yards 

 

Edited August 9, 2019 by AUBwins

[AUBwins 10,074]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

LOL. Stid just completed a pass he never threw at Auburn to Ryan Davis on a route he never ran at Auburn. 

Hell of a job by RD on the play btw.

Awesome.  Please find that clip and post it 👍

[GwillMac6 20,666]

 

[abw0004 10,110]

14 hours ago, Tiger said:

Damn shame we couldn't protect Stidz. Look how on point he is with protection and an offense suited for his abilities. I know it's soooo early and the Lions D is are bad (plus playing without a full squad) and there was no game planning for him but damn he looks about as good as you could've wanted if you're a Pats fan

Made a minor tweak.    I hope the Lions get it together.  I don't want them to ruin KJ.

[abw0004 10,110]

11 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

 

That last Tweet is hilarious 

[Auburn Kev 1,653]

 

 

 

[GwillMac6 20,666]

MUHHHHHHHHHHHH BOY RYAN DAVIS!!!!!!!!!! Dude just looks like a New England Patriot player. I really do think he will make the team. At worst I see him on the practice squad. His skillset is perfect for what they want their WRs to do though. He eventually could be a perfect replacement for Amendola.

 

[Auburn Kev 1,653]

 

[ScubaSteve 194]

Shon Coleman started at LT then was carted off with an air cast on his right ankle.

[CR 2,441]

Jeff Holland was waived by the Broncos.

[CR 2,441]

Shon Coleman had surgery for a fractured fibula and dislocated ankle  per 49ers Athletic site.

[Auburn Kev 1,653]

Quote

Auburn NFL roundup: Stidham-to-Davis goes pro

Posted Aug 11, 12:07 AM

 

By Mark Inabinett | minabinett@al.com

The Jarrett Stidham-to-Ryan Davis connection that was the most prolific in Auburn history didn't end when the pair left the Plains.

In the New England Patriots' 31-3 victory over the Detroit Lions on Thursday night in the NFL teams' preseason opener, Stidham threw a 22-yard completion to Davis.

Stidham joined the Patriots in the fourth round of the NFL Draft on April 27. Davis came aboard as a free agent after going undrafted.

Against the Lions, Stidham took over for Brian Hoyer as New England's quarterback in the second quarter. His first pro series ended with a touchdown pass.

Stidham played the rest of the game, taking 58 snaps. He completed 14-of-24 passes for 179 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He also ran for 16 yards on four carries.

“I think there were several plays that dawned all of the categories really,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said of Stidham’s performance. “Quick throws where the read was clear and the receiver was open, and then maybe a secondary read, and then there were a couple of times where he scrambled and extended the play. He ran a couple times and completed a pass to -- I think it might have been the tight end, (Andrew) Beck or (Ryan) Izzo – but anyway, there was a little bit of everything there. The most important thing for the quarterback is not to turn the ball over, make good decisions, and throw accurately, so he did all of those at times.”

Davis took only five offensive snaps, but he came up a catch in the fourth quarter.

Davis holds the Auburn career record with 178 receptions. Stidham threw 154 of those passes.

Davis and Stidham were among the 32 former Auburn players who got on the field during the first full week of the 2019 NFL preseason.

Those players include seven who were making their pro debuts.

Three other former Auburn players got on the field during the Patriots-Lions game:

· Patriots defensive lineman Byron Cowart made two tackles and shared a sack while playing 16 snaps in his first pro game.

· Patriots linebacker Brandon King (Thompson) made one tackle while playing 11 defensive snaps. King has spent four seasons and earned two Super Bowl rings with New England almost exclusively as a special-teams player. Before Thursday night's game, he had played only one defensive snap in his pro career, and that came in a preseason game.

· Lions running back Kerryon Johnson (Madison Academy) and Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones did not play.

In other games:

Arizona Cardinals 17, Los Angeles Chargers 13

· Cardinals safety Rudy Ford (New Hope) made three tackles while playing 21 of Arizona's 60 defensive snaps.

Baltimore Ravens 29, Jacksonville Jaguars 0

· Jaguars defensive tackle Dontavius Russell played 22 defensive snaps and one special-teams play in his first pro game.

· Jaguars defensive tackle Andrew Williams played 36 defensive snaps and one special-teams play in his first pro game.

Buffalo Bills 24, Indianapolis Colts 16

· Braden Smith started at right offensive tackle for the Colts and played Indianapolis' first 11 offensive snaps.

· Bills wide receiver Duke Williams played 18 of Buffalo's 78 offensive snaps.

Carolina Panthers 23, Chicago Bears 13

· Cameron Artis-Payne started at running back for the Panthers. He gained 8 yards on five rushing attempts, caught two passes for 30 yards and returned a kickoff 22 yards.

· John Franklin III started at cornerback for the Bears. He made four tackles while playing 42 of Chicago's 65 defensive snaps. Franklin also returned a kickoff 19 yards.

· Bears cornerback Jonathan Mincy made three tackles, including one behind the line of scrimmage, while playing 31 defensive snaps.

· Panthers quarterback Cam Newton did not play.

Cleveland Browns 30, Washington Redskins 10

· Browns defensive tackle Devaroe Lawrence made three tackles, including a sack, while playing 29 of Cleveland's 67 defensive snaps.

· Cassanova McKinzy (Woodlawn) started at outside linebacker for the Redskins. He registered two quarterback hits and recovered a fumble while playing 29 of Washington's 74 defensive snaps.

· Greg Robinson started at left offensive tackle for the Browns and played Cleveland's first offensive series -- an 89-yard touchdown drive.

· Jermaine Whitehead started at safety for the Browns. He made three tackles on defense and one on special teams and recovered a fumble. Whitehead played 28 of Cleveland's 68 defensive snaps.

Green Bay Packers 28, Houston Texans 26

· Montravius Adams started at defensive end for the Packers. He registered one tackle while playing 35 of Green Bay's 80 defensive snaps.

· Angelo Blackson started at defensive end for the Texans. He made three tackles while playing 20 of Houston's 59 defensive snaps.

· Packers safety Tray Matthews made a special-teams tackle. He played 28 defensive snaps and 13 special-teams plays.

Kansas City Chiefs 38, Cincinnati Bengals 17

· Bengals linebacker Deshaun Davis (Vigor) made one tackle in his first pro game.

· Bengals linebacker Carl Lawson did not play.

· C.J. Uzomah started at tight end for the Bengals.

Miami Dolphins 34, Atlanta Falcons 27

· Dolphins fullback Chandler Cox played 17 offensive snaps and 12 special-teams plays in his first pro game.

· Falcons long snapper Josh Harris made seven snaps for Atlanta.

New York Giants 31, New York Jets 22

· Giants guard Chad Slade (Moody) played 50 of New York's 62 offensive snaps.

· Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton did not play.

Oakland Raiders 14, Los Angeles Rams 3

· Raiders place-kicker Daniel Carlson made both of his extra-point kicks.

· Raiders defensive tackle Gabe Wright did not play.

Pittsburgh Steelers 30, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 28

· Peyton Barber started at running back for the Buccaneers. He was on the field for eight snaps and ran for 18 yards on three carries and caught a 4-yard pass.

· Carlton Davis started at cornerback for the Buccaneers. He made one tackle while playing 11 snaps.

· Buccaneers cornerback Jamel Dean did not play.

San Francisco 49ers 17, Dallas Cowboys 9

· Shon Coleman started at left offensive tackle for the 49ers. He was carted to the locker room after sustaining an ankle injury.

· Forty-Niners defensive end Dee Ford (St. Clair County) did not play.

Seattle Seahawks 22, Denver Broncos 14

· Broncos outside linebacker Jeff Holland registered two tackles and one quarterback hit while playing 32 defensive snaps and 11 special-teams plays.

· Seahawks cornerback Neiko Thorpe made four tackles on defense and one on special teams while playing 24 defensive snaps and eight special-teams plays.

Tennessee Titans 27, Philadelphia Eagles 10

· Titans linebacker Daren Bates made two tackles while playing 26 defensive snaps and 10 special-teams plays.

· Blake Countess started at safety for the Eagles. He made one tackle on defense and one on special teams, but he sustained a hamstring injury that is expected to sideline him for several weeks.

 

[Auburn Kev 1,653]

Quote

Bengals’ Carl Lawson plans to return from torn ACL ‘better than before’

Posted Aug 10, 5:32 AM

 

By Mark Inabinett | minabinett@al.com

Cincinnati defensive end Carl Lawson’s comeback from knee surgery appeared complete earlier this week when tossed aside 345-pound Bengals offensive tackle Cordy Glenn on his way to the quarterback during a training-camp practice.

“That was something else,” Cincinnati defensive end Sam Hubbard said. “He looks amazing. He was supposed to be back in October, but he’s a freak of nature. He came back strong and faster than last year.”

But when the Bengals open their preseason schedule on Saturday night against the Kansas City Chiefs, Lawson won't get on the field.

Cincinnati coach Zac Taylor said the Bengals “had this plan in place” after the former Auburn standout suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament on Oct. 21 in a game against the Chiefs, and they’re sticking to the script.

“He looks great and feels great, but there’s no reason to modify that plan right now,” Taylor said. "… You’d like to see Carl in full action, but the smart thing to do right now is hold him back.”

For Lawson, the plan is to return to the field better than when he left it.

“When I tore my ACL, yeah, the process sucks, but unless you really take a limb from me, I know how to recover and I know how to prep my body," Lawson said. "There was never really a question of getting back to myself. The goal was to be better than before, and that’s the main goal coming off of this. I never once thought, like ‘Oh, I’m not going to be back to myself.' The goal was to try redeem myself from last season, a bad season, bad defense we had, and just coming back better.”

Lawson joined the Bengals as a fourth-round selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, led the league's first-year players with 8.5 sacks that season and made the All-Rookie team. In 2018, Lawson had one sack before his season ended after seven games.

“Last year, I don’t care what anybody says, I was still a better player overall,” Lawson said, “and the pass-rush aspect of it was winning, but not winning fast enough, because when you’re playing a quarterback, 2.5 seconds and 2.7 seconds is the biggest difference. It sounds crazy, but it’s the biggest difference in the world. So I think that’s the main thing from a pass-rush standpoint that I need to fix is just getting there faster. I don’t think it’s a question of winning. It’s just getting to the quarterback faster.”

Lawson said he thinks he'll come out of his rehab process able to do that.

“I feel stronger and faster,” Lawson said. “I had time to work on other parts of my body while rehabbing. But, I mean, I love football, so I dedicated all my time to it. It was never a question of physically getting back to where I was. I just wanted to become a better football player, and I think those arrows are pointing up."

Last season, the Bengals' defense yielded more yards than any other team in the NFL. Only two teams gave up more points. Cincinnati had the league's worst passing defense and finished in the bottom three in rushing defense and bottom five in sacks.

After posting a 6-10 record in 2018 and finishing out of the playoffs for the third straight season, the Bengals parted ways with head coach Marvin Lewis after 16 years and hired Taylor, the Los Angeles Rams' quarterbacks coach. Taylor turned the defense over to Lou Anarumo, the New York Giants' defensive-backs coach.

Anarumo plans a versatile defense that has had Lawson lining up as a down lineman and in a stand-up role during training camp.

“We don’t know until it hits the fan,” Lawson said about the chances for improvement with the Bengals’ defense. "We don’t know. Every summer is optimism and everything like that, but we’ve just got to keep going.

"The one thing I will say is we got a lot of good guys in this locker room, and I can't really say that we had the same energy and focus to football as we've in the past, since my first two years being here. We've got a lot of good guys that love football now in the building, and they have that mentality that we want to take this to higher places, so that's the main thing that I can see that's different. I don't know about the physical, I don't know about the scheme, but I do know we've got a lot of guys dedicated to the craft right now, and that's the main thing. That's where it starts."

 

[Auburn Kev 1,653]

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Oakland Raiders expecting ‘wonderful season’ from kicker Daniel Carlson

Posted Aug 09, 7:00 PM

 

By Mark Inabinett | minabinett@al.com

The Oakland Raiders have two punters and two long snappers on their training-camp roster. But they have only one kicker in their special-teams lineup.

The Raiders are expecting former Auburn standout Daniel Carlson to pick up where he left off in his rookie NFL season, during which he connected on his final 15 field-goal attempts.

“I think he’s stronger, and I think he knows himself a little bit better than when we first got him last year,” said Richard Bisaccia, the Raiders’ assistant head coach and special-teams coordinator. “He’s done a lot of work on himself. I think he’s stronger, and he mentally knows himself a little bit better.”

Carlson made 16 of his 17 field-goal attempts and all 18 of his extra-point kicks for the Raiders in 2018 after he joined the team on Oct. 23. Carlson’s kicks included a 35-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Raiders to a 23-21 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 18. Carlson earned the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week Award after that game.

Carlson had started the season with the Minnesota Vikings. The kicker joined the Vikings as a fifth-round selection in the 2018 NFL Draft, then won a preseason kicking competition with incumbent Kai Forbath.

But in the second game of the regular season, Carlson missed all three of his field-goal attempts, including two in overtime -- the last a 35-yarder on the final snap -- in a 29-29 tie against the Green Bay Packers. The next day, the Vikings waived Carlson.

“I think Daniel Carlson is an extremely, extremely mentally tough player,” Bisaccia said. “He’s been through adversity at different times, certainly through his Auburn career, and I have a little history with Daniel that goes back to high school, so I think he just kind of ran through a little bit of a rough patch and worked out some kinks, came in and had a tremendous workout for us and certainly had some success going through last year with us, and we’re just expecting him to have a wonderful season this year.”

At Auburn, Carlson earned All-SEC recognition three times, including 2017, when he was the first-team pick and Florida's Eddy Pineiro was the second-team choice.

While Carlson was winning the Vikings' kicking job last season, Pineiro seemed headed toward the same duties with the Raiders. But Pineiro's season-ending groin injury left Oakland with 14-year veteran Mike Nugent to handle the kicking.

When Nugent sustained a hip injury in the season's third game, the Raiders turned to rookie Matt McCrane. After McCrane missed four of his nine field-goal attempts in three games, Oakland signed Carlson.

Pineiro remained with the Raiders on injured reserve, and Oakland headed into the offseason with two kickers. But on May 6, the Raiders traded Pineiro to the Chicago Bears for a conditional seventh-round selection in the 2021 NFL Draft. He’s competing in the preseason with former South Carolina standout Elliott Fry to replace another former Auburn kicker, Cody Parkey, for the Bears.

With only one kicker in camp, the Raiders are trying not to overuse Carlson by limiting him to working every other day in practice. A.J. Cole, a rookie punter, also can kick off, but in addition to working on his kicking, Carlson is juggling reps with two long snappers and two holders as he prepares for the 2019 season.

Oakland will open its four-game preseason schedule against the Los Angeles Rams at 7 p.m. CDT Saturday at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

While at Auburn, Carlson set an SEC career record with 92 field goals, and he made all 198 of his extra-point attempts. With his 20-yard touchdown run on a field-goal fake in the 2016 season added to his kicking, Carlson scored a conference-record 480 points.

Among kickers, Carlson ranks third in NCAA FBS history in scoring behind Oklahoma's Austin Seibert and Arizona State's Zane Gonzalez. Overall, only five players have scored more points than Carlson, with Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds, Louisiana Tech running back Kenneth Dixon and Wisconsin running back Montee Ball the top three.

 

[GwillMac6 20,666]

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

14 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

 

He tweeted #redsea last night and I had to look it up. I was worried they'd formed a league in Dubai or something. 

Give 'em hell, Sensei!

[Auburn Kev 1,653]

 

[Auburn Kev 1,653]

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Josh Holsey in, Blake Countess out in NFL transactions

 

By Mark Inabinett | minabinett@al.com

Two former Auburn defensive backs were on opposite sides of NFL transactions on Tuesday. The Oakland Raiders signed Josh Holsey, and the Philadelphia Eagles waived Blake Countess.

Holsey is returning to football after suffering his third torn anterior cruciate ligament. The cornerback has been out of the NFL since the Washington Redskins waived him on May 13.

At Auburn, Holsey tore the ACL in his left knee six games into 2013 season and two games into 2015 season.

A seventh-round selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, Holsey played in 12 games as a rookie, getting on the field for nine defensive snaps and 227 special-teams plays for Washington.

A foot injury suffered off the field in a “freak accident” during the summer delayed Holsey's second season. Because Holsey couldn't start training camp on time, the Redskins placed him on the reserve/non-football injury list. He returned to practice on Oct. 24, joined Washington's practice squad and ascended to the active roster on Dec. 15. Two days later, he was on injured reserve after playing 29 defensive snaps and six special-teams plays against the Jacksonville Jaguars and tore the ACL in his right knee in his only game of the 2018 season.

The Eagles released Countess with an injury settlement, rather than place him on injured reserve.

Countess started at safety in Philadelphia's preseason opener on Thursday. He made one tackle on defense and one on special teams while playing 26 defensive snaps and three special-teams plays.

But Countess left the game with a hamstring injury that reportedly will sideline him for “multiple weeks.”

This is the second time the Eagles have released Countess. He entered the NFL as a sixth-round draft choice for Philadelphia in 2016.

The Eagles waived Countess at the end of the 2016 preseason, and he wound up on the Los Angeles Rams’ practice squad. Los Angeles activated him in time for the final five games of that season, and he played in every game for the Rams over the previous two campaigns.

Countess became one of the NFL's most active special-teams players in 2017 and 2018. He was on the field for 681 special-teams plays across the two seasons and has returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in each of the past two years.

Countess rejoined the Eagles when Philadelphia claimed him off the NFL waiver wire on May 3 after he'd been released by the Rams the previous day. Los Angeles indicated it wanted Countess on the team, but not for what the Rams were obligated to pay him for the 2019 season.

In March, the Rams placed an original-round tender on Countess. By placing the tender on Countess, Los Angeles signaled its intention to keep the restricted free agent for a fourth NFL season or get a sixth-round draft choice in return if he signed with another team. It also set Countess' salary at $2.025 million for the 2019 season.

Holsey played safety and cornerback at Auburn, appearing in 44 games with 31 starts from 2012 through 2016.

Countess played one season at Auburn, joining the Tigers as a graduate transfer from Michigan in 2015. He opened his Auburn career as a starting cornerback, then shifted to safety after three games.

 

[LKEEL75 2,566]

Dang Holsey has had a hard time

[aubearcat 2,137]

 

[Auburn Kev 1,653]

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Auburn rookies part of Jacksonville Jaguars’ defensive-line jumble

Posted Aug 14, 7:00 PM

 

By Mark Inabinett | minabinett@al.com

Doug Marrone and his Jacksonville coaching staff might face their “toughest” roster decisions with the Jaguars’ defensive linemen. What they decide will have an impact on the football futures of two rookies from Auburn.

Dontavius Russell and Andrew Williams are among the Jaguars’ four defensive linemen with Alabama football roots. The other two probably aren’t perched on the roster bubble, though.

Defensive end Josh Allen, who played three seasons at Abbeville High School, was the seventh player picked in the NFL Draft in April. Defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, a two-time Pro Bowler from Huffman High School and Alabama, agreed to a restructured contract in February that likely prevented him from becoming a salary-cap casualty in March.

The Jaguars' defensive-line lineup also includes 11-year veteran and four-time Pro Bowler Calais Campbell and three-year starter and 2017 Pro Bowler Yannick Ngakoue as defensive ends and six-year veteran Abry Jones at nose guard. The depth includes 2018 first-round pick Taven Bryan and 2013 first-round pick Datone Jones.

“I feel good about where we are with our D-line,” Marrone said during this Tuesday press conference. "I do. In other words, I feel like we have good starters and I feel like we have good depth. I think we have a lot of players there. That will probably be, if you look at the roster, I think that can potentially be the toughest. Who is nine? Who is 10, if we keep 10 or wherever that goes? We’ve got guys that are playing very well. We’ve got guys that in the past have gotten a lot better.

"We all know that between Marcell, Abry, Yan, Calais, those guys are veteran guys that have played and played at a really high level. But then Taven Bryan's starting to play really well. That's exciting for us. (Dawuane) Smoot's playing really well. That's exciting for us. Then all of sudden, you have Josh Allen, OK? Josh is getting better and better and better each day. He looks like he's bigger and stronger and faster each day when you see him. And that's exciting. Then he can do so much.

"Yan obviously looks great out there. But then all of sudden, Russell, (Michael) Hughes, Datone Jones, you got guys now -- Big V (Kalani Vakameilalo) is a big body in there. We've got guys now that are in there that are pretty good that it's going to be a tough call."

On the Jaguars’ first depth chart of the year, Russell was listed as co-second team with Eli Ankou behind Abry Jones at nose tackle, and Williams was third team at defensive tackle behind Dareus and Bryan.

“It’s always good to be part of a good D-line,” Russell told the “Locked on Jaguars” podcast, "because a lot of defensive lines, they take it as they’re kind of leading the pack as far as the team goes. That’s how it was for us at Auburn with those guys, and I got to lead that group at Auburn. But now to be able to come in where we have good leadership on the defensive line with good players, I feel like it puts me in a good position. …

"I sit beside Abry Jones in the meetings, and I feel like that's helped me as far as picking up on the playbook really quickly, and, on the field, I try to watch closely to what Marcell does and try to take little things from what he does and see if I can incorporate it into my game."

In Jacksonville's preseason opener -- a 29-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night -- Williams played 36 of the Jaguars' 73 defensive snaps and Russell played 22 in their pro debuts.

“I know the entire defense except for the rush,” Russell said, “so with those three played by the bigger guys I know the positions, so I’m in a position, if they ask me to do something, I won’t be able to not do it because of knowledge because I know those things, so that’s something I feel like I’m in a good spot with.”

Allen also made his pro debut last week and played 20 snaps. Dareus did not play in the game.

The Jaguars kept 30 players -- mainly projected starters -- sidelined against the Ravens, and Marrone indicated he would follow a similar plan in Jacksonville's second preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles at 6 p.m. CDT Thursday.

 

[Auburn Kev 1,653]

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Darius Slayton putting hamstring injury behind him

Posted Aug 15, 5:30 AM

By Mark Inabinett | minabinett@al.com

Rookie wide receiver Darius Slayton returned to practice with the New York Giants this week. But will that be enough for the former Auburnstandout to make his NFL preseason debut on Friday night?

Slayton suffered a hamstring injury during his first training-camp practice with the Giants’ rookies on July 22. The fifth-round draft choice didn’t return until Sunday, when he participated in some of the drills, and he increased his participation as the week went on.

Slayton missed New York's preseason opener -- a 31-22 victory over the New York Jets last week. The Giants play the Chicago Bears at 6:30 p.m. CDT Friday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. NFL Network will televise the game.

On Monday, Giants coach Pat Shurmur said he thought Slayton had “plenty of time” to get ready for the game. But on Tuesday, Shurmur said he didn’t know if Slayton would play.

“We’ll have to reassess as we go here,” Shurmur said. “He had another good day in practice. Each day, he looks a little bit faster out there. We’ll just have to see.”

During his Wednesday press conference, Shurmur didn’t mention Slayton, but he did list three players who “probably” wouldn’t play on Friday because of injuries, and Slayton wasn’t one of them.

Whenever he makes his preseason debut, Slayton said he would try not to press to make up for his lost time.

“You still go out there and kind of let them come to you,” Slayton told Newsday. “You play your role, and the big plays will come. I’m not going out there trying to make every spectacular play, but sure enough, if one presents itself, I plan to make it.”

Slayton's injury has been just one of the trouble spots for the Giants' wide receivers during training camp.

At the first full practice of training camp on July 25, Corey Coleman suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, ending his 2019 season before it began, and Sterling Shepard, the team's leading returning receiver, sustained a fractured thumb.

Two days later came news that free-agent addition and projected starter Golden Tate had been suspended by the NFL for the first four games of the 2019 season for violating the league's Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances.

All for a team that traded Pro Bowl wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to the Cleveland Browns in the offseason.

In the Giants' preseason opener, T.J. Jones led New York with six catches for 72 yards and one touchdown. Last season, Jones caught 19 passes for the Detroit Lions.

On Tuesday, Shurmur said Slayton’s return would add “speed, obviously. Through the OTAs and the time he was on the practice field, he displayed the ability to go down the field and make a catch. We anticipate that he’s going to have a bright future. He just needs to get out there.”

While Shepard might be ready to play in the Giants' season-opening game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 8, Shurmur knows New York will have to find another starting wide receiver after Tate lost his appeal on Wednesday.

“With another receiver, that’s how we do it,” Shurmur said about replacing Tate. "It’s unfortunate, this situation. He will not be with us for a month, so we’ll fill that void with another player. …

"It’s just that simple. It’s unfortunate. There are times when you have injuries, and you have to adjust on the fly. This is a situation where it’s a suspension, so we adjust on the fly. It is just that simple."

 

[AUBwins 10,074]

DCarl with a good start tonight for Oakland with an extra point and FG, both down the middle.