Health is the Key for Giants…and Others

This from Ralph Vacchiano this morning:

"Antrel Rolle was walking without a limp and without a walking boot on his right ankle. He felt good enough to even stand out at practice, where he saw Justin Tuck and Hakeem Nicks and Corey Webster running through drills."

As with every professional sports team health is the key to winning.  While the Giants have suffered through some brutal campaigns related to injuries, keeping as many players healthy and productive is the key to any success. Hopefully we see a healthy Justin Tuck back on the field performing to his potential.  Justin hasn’t been right since the run to Indianapolis.  He has had nagging neck injuries that have limited his playing time and his performance.  Having the real Justin Tuck back on the D line will make a big difference in the performance of the unit.

Hakeem Nicks also has suffered through some nagging injuries recently and of course cost him most of last season.  As discussed here before, a healthy Hakeem coupled with Rueben Randle, Victor Cruz, Brandon Myers, and Louis Murphy make the best wide receiving corps in the league.  Hakeem has proven he is un-stoppable when covered one on one by a smaller defender or a safety.  His body control and strong hands make him a natural pass catcher in the red zone and he was sorely missed last year in that area.

Corey Webster, Terrell Thomas, and Antrel Rolle are the back bone to the defense and they need to get healthy and perform well as a unit for this defense to be any good at all.  Having Aaron Ross back and The Prince healthy will also take some of the pressure off, but this unit has to return to what it once was.  Last years performance was tough to watch at times and the scheme as well as the performance needs to improve dramatically.

But…having healthy players is key to running the scheme you want to run, and having success in the war of attrition known as the NFL season.