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New York Giants vs. Buffalo Bills week two injury report

By Charles Vitolo

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 08: Wide receiver Sterling Shepard #87 of the New York Giants walks on the field at the start of the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on September 08, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - SEPTEMBER 08: Wide receiver Sterling Shepard #87 of the New York Giants walks on the field at the start of the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on September 08, 2019 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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The New York Giants find themselves relatively healthy heading into a week two matchup with the Buffalo Bills – except for one key position group.

If there was one position group that Big Blue could not afford to lose anyone at early in the season, it was the wide receiver group. As it turns out – of course- all four New York Giants that didn’t practice were pass-catchers, with three of them being wide-outs.

Sterling Shepard’s concussion is looming as the biggest threat to the Giants being competitive on Sunday, and fans didn’t get any good news today as he did not participate in Thursday’s practice. I highlighted yesterday what Shepard missing any time would mean for Big Blue, and as we inch closer to Sunday, it appears as though Shep’ playing will be a long-shot.

To make matters worse, Cody Latimer joined ’87’ on the injury list with what the team is calling a calf injury. Latimer wasn’t totally inactive, as he was doing some light work with trainers, but anytime a player misses a Thursday practice it doesn’t bode-well for said player suiting up on Sunday. Latimer will have another shot to contribute in practice on Friday, as the sixth-year receiver figures to have the biggest regular-season role he’s ever had should he play against the Bills. The former Bronco had three catches for 74 yards in the opener, including a pretty 46-yard catch to open up the second half.

Rookie Darius Slayton’s hamstring injury has not improved enough to where coaches are comfortable having him test it out in practice just yet – also not lending itself well for him to play on Sunday. At this point, it would be a miracle if the speedster made enough progress to find himself playing against the Bills. Tight end Garrett Dickerson is still nursing a quad injury, and he did not practice either day as well.

On a positive note, right guard Kevin Zeitler (shoulder), and outside-linebacker Markus Golden (hip) both participated-fully in Thursday’s practice after being limited on Wednesday. The Giants appear to be at full-strength along the trenches, and they’ll need to be against a tough Buffalo defense. One player to watch along the defensive line is Dexter Lawrence, who was limited on both Wednesday and Thursday with a shoulder injury.

There was no word on the status of cornerback Antonio Hamilton’s first-degree burns he repeatedly-suffered against the Cowboys last week, let’s hope he’s alright.

Buffalo Bills injury report

The Buffalo Bills not only picked-up a huge divisional win on the road last Sunday, but did so while evading any meaningful injuries. The team is pretty-much at full-strength as they look to pick-up two wins in a row at Metlife Stadium.

Slot-receiver Cole Beasley and veteran tailback Frank Gore both didn’t practice yesterday, but that seemed to be more precautionary than anything. Beasley is reportedly suffering from an illness, while the official reason given for Gore’s absence was rest.

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One area of concern health-wise for the team is in the cornerback group. Starter Levi Wallace (ankle) and nickleback Taron Johnson (hamstring) both did not practice on Thursday. Wallace seems much-more likely to play as he got in a full workload on Wednesday, but he was ramped -down to a limited role on Thursday. Johnson did not participate in either practice, making his status for Sunday’s game not-too promising.

On the offensive side of the ball, veteran wide-out Andre Roberts missed both sessions while nursing a quad injury, while tight end Tyler Kroft was limited on both days. Kroft, who has been penciled in as the start for all of the off-season, finally made his way onto the practice field for Buffalo.

That has to be encouraging, as the former Bengal has been nursing a foot injury since the first day of workouts in the spring after signing a three year, 18-million dollar contract in the off-season. Roberts was expected to possibly be a legitimate piece for this offense, but it appears like he’ll have to wait another week to begin to make his mark on the 2019 season.

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