Landon Collins Could Miss First NFL Game Against Eagles

New York Giants safety Landon Collins is unlikely to play in Sunday’s divisional matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Collins is listed as doubtful in the team’s injury report with an ankle injury. He didn’t practice on Wednesday or Friday and was a limited participant on Thursday.

“He didn’t go [Friday] but we got a little bit of work out of him [Thursday]. But he’s a tough guy, so you know him. He wants to play,” interim head coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “We’ll see what happens when we get to Sunday.”

Collins played through a high ankle sprain earlier this season. Spagnuolo said this week the team needed “to protect Landon from himself”. He hasn’t missed a game in his NFL career, starting in all 45 games, and leads the Giants with 97 tackles this season.

Safety Nat Berhe (hamstring) is the only player listed as out on the Giants’ injury report. This means the Giants will be short-handed at the safety position.

Andrew Adams (who would start for Collins) and Darian Thompson were the only healthy safeties after Berhe was ruled out. The Giants elevated Ryan Murphy from the practice squad. Murphy will take the roster spot vacated when offensive lineman Justin Pugh was placed on season-ending injured reserve.

Cornerback Brandon Dixon (heel/hamstring) and wide receivers Roger Lewis (ankle) and Travis Rudolph (hamstring) are all listed as questionable.

The Giants expect linebacker B.J. Goodson (ankle), defensive tackle Damon Harrison (non-injury), defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (finger), and wide receiver Sterling Shepard (hamstring) to play. They were not listed on the team’s injury report.

Spagnuolo wouldn’t commit to playing embattled cornerback Eli Apple despite a shortage of healthy DBs. Apple hasn’t played in four consecutive games and was fined by the team for sending tweets during last week’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

“We’ll see where the roster goes right now,” Spagnuolo said. “I’m kind of doing the numbers of the 46 (active players) and it’s flowing. But we’ll figure it out by Sunday. And I certainly wouldn’t want to say anything now anyway to the opposition.”

– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage and covers the NFL and the New York Giants. Please like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @CuRawls203.