Giants Place Gerris Wilkinson on IR; Sign Defensive Back: As expected, LB Gerris Wilkinson was placed on season-ending Injured Reserve yesterday. Wilkinson underwent surgery on a dislocated wrist on Monday.
To fill his roster spot, the Giants signed defensive back D.J. Johnson from the Practice Squad of the Denver Broncos.
“We had really liked this young man for quite some time,” said Head Coach Tom Coughlin of Johnson. “He plays both – he has played corner, he has played safety. He has played well on special teams. He did have a good grade going in. Our pro scouting department had tracked him during the preseason, etc. So we felt good about him.”
When asked if the Giants will play him at safety or cornerback, Coughlin responded, “Initially, because of the balance, we thought of him as a safety, yeah.”
“He is explosive,” said Giants’ Safeties Coach David Merritt. “Obviously coming from Denver, he is coming from a really good defense. I like him. He is very bright from what I see already just standing out there with him during practice. He did well.”
Injury Report – CB Aaron Ross Returns to Practice: CB Aaron Ross (hamstring), who has missed the entire preseason and regular season to date, returned to practice yesterday on a limited basis.
“It felt good,” Ross said. “I’m very excited. I’m a little rusty, but that’s expected.”
“(Ross) missed all the pre-season and all the regular season,” said Cornerbacks Coach Peter Giunta. “Missed 13 games, so you first have to get the rust off and get his timing back and do all those kinds of things. Hopefully, we will get a situation where he can bump people around a little rather than going right into live football the first time he makes any contact. It’s nice to kind of wean him in during the preseason, a few plays here and few plays there and build it up. He doesn’t have that opportunity right now, so he’ll have to get himself ready. When he puts some pads back on, he’ll hit the sled, do some things with leg-driving, wrapping up and those kinds of things.”
RB Ahmad Bradshaw (foot), WR Hakeem Nicks, and OG Kevin Boothe did not practice.
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Notes and Quotes: The Giants will have the next four days off and will get back to work on Monday.
The Giants-Falcons game and Giants-Cowboys game will not be flexed and remain at their original times.
As is typical during a season, the Giants worked out a number of players on Monday. For the list, see this Star-Ledger article.
Former Giants’ Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo on Giants’ Defensive Coordinator Bill Sheridan: “I absolutely think he will (get the defense turned around). Not 30 min ago I e-mailed Bill just to tell him. I had an opportunity to watch that game against San Diego. It’s a shame they lost it at the end. They did all the right things at the end, but Philip Rivers had a great drive. But they’ll be fine. There are players in that locker room that know how to win. They know what they have to do. They’ll dust themselves off. When all is said and done, they’ll be right there.”