New York Giants outside linebacker Olivier Vernon has been officially ruled out of Sunday night’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.
Vernon has been sidelined with a high ankle sprain since Aug. 26 and will miss his second consecutive game. He hasn’t practiced since the initial injury and was seen riding a stationary bike and working with a trainer on the sideline this week while his teammates prepared for Dallas.
The team is hopeful Vernon will return for next week’s game against the Houston Texans.
“He did more this week,” head coach Pat Shurmur said. “He got closer. We haven’t seen any setbacks in any way. So, we’ll be hopeful for next week.”
This isn’t the first time Vernon has dealt with a high ankle sprain. Last season, he tried to play through one, lasting less than a half in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Vernon missed the next four games after not missing a game in his career to that point.
In Vernon’s absence, the Giants will look to Connor Barwin and rookie Lorenzo Carter as pass rushers.
Barwin played 41 snaps in last week’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars while Carter played 24. The Jaguars offense is very dependent on the ground game and the same can be said for Dallas. Barwin and Carter should play at or around the same number of snaps as they did last week.
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Vernon had 6.5 sacks last season in 12 games while Barwin had five sacks in 14 games for the Los Angeles Rams. They are the only players on the Giants roster to tally more than four sacks in any season.
Linebacker Tae Davis (hamstring) is listed as questionable. The undrafted rookie was a limited participant in practice this week after not practicing at all last week. Running back Wayne Gallman (knee) and wide receiver Sterling Shepard (back) were removed from the injury report and will play against Dallas.
Cornerback Janoris Jenkins returned to practice Friday after leaving Thursday to attend to a family matter. Jenkins left halfway through the session in tears and was consoled by Shurmur and other members of the coaching staff.
“Yeah, everything is good,” Jenkins said. “Short-term memory. In life, things happen; just have to move forward and come back to work and pick up where I left off.”
Jenkins is expected to play Sunday night.
– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for Full Press Coverage and covers the NFL, the New York Giants, and the NBA. Please like and follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @CuRawls203.
