The Giants safety Xavier McKinney, team co-captain, has found himself with quite the injury. A few broken fingers that had him requiring surgery.
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We are currently 9 weeks into the NFL season and while most teams played this week, a few were left out, given a bye for the week. The New York Giants were one of those teams, and while you would expect a pretty uneventful week featuring the usual training, MAYBE some team bonding stuff, definitely watching replays of their upcoming opponents the Houston Texans. You know, the usual. But unfortunately that wasn’t to be the case for the Giants.
The Giants safety Xavier McKinney, team co-captain, has found himself with quite the injury. A few broken fingers that had him requiring surgery. Not through training might I add! Xavier came out this week taking full responsibility for his injury, which he sustained from an ATV accident while on holiday in Cabo.
“We were on a sightseeing tour. That’s what I can tell you, it was nothing that was reckless. This was just simply being able to be out in the country, seeing what it looked like. It was an unfortunate event that happened.” McKinney said.
Unfortunately, the ATV he was on “tilted over” causing him to fall and land on his hand. Which McKinney said was “Basically what happened”. But what does this injury mean for the Giants for the rest of this season? Given the nature of his injury we likely won’t see him for a few weeks AT LEAST. With the Giants currently sitting 6-2 and hoping to push on to claim a playoff place, will they manage without him?
Since McKinney has all but ruled himself out of a 2022 return given the nature of , where will the Giants be turning to, in their efforts to cover him for the rest of the season consistently? So, looking at the current Giants roster, McKinney excluded, there are 3 other Safeties. You have 23 year old, 6ft, 205 lbs Jason Pinnock, 24 year old 5’11 195 lbs Julian Love and 21 year old 6’1 205 lbs Dane Belton. Of course, Belton and Love have already been playing somewhat consistently, with Love in particular leading the team in tackles. Not too shabby.
So, what about players that aren’t in the squad already? Well, there’s one other Safety who is CURRENTLY injured HOWEVER they are due to return 20th November, that’s veteran Safety Tony Jefferson, 30 year old, 5’11 212 lbs. With McKinney out, getting an experienced head in the line alongside some of the younger players above like Love, will be a huge boon in my opinion. There are two others however, two players that are currently listed as being in the practice squad.
The first being Trenton Thompson, 24 year old 6’1 196 lbs and then the second is Landon Collins. 28 years old, 6’0 225 lbs. With the McKinney injury, EVEN THOUGH Tony Jefferson is due back from his injury VERY soon. What is the likelihood that we could see either of these lads play? Well, Landon Collins recently got a workout, when Julian Love was out with a concussion, he never went on to play, but did make an appearance against the Jaguars and the Seahawks, both somewhat lacklustre performances however.
So as I mentioned earlier, the Giants without Xavier McKinney will be hosting the Houston Texans. What do the experts think for this one? It’ll be interesting to see if the loss of McKinney will affect their opinions on this game! So, checking out the best odds it looks like the Giants are, understandably, pretty heavy favourites. You can get the Giants at -235 which will see a $7.12 return from $5. But if you fancy the Texans, you can get the underdogs at +195 which will net you $14.75 from the same stake, however unlikely it is to happen.
Looking across the board at some NFL Spread and prop Bets, for the first half of the game for a -3 spread on the Giants it’s -110, you can get the same odds on the Texans to be +3, this returns $9.53 from $5. If you think the Giants will have under 20 points in the first half, you can get -115 which is a $9.34 return from that stake. But if you think the Texans will somehow have OVER 20 points, you can get the same odds.
Looking a little further ahead, while we’re here we might as well, if you skip ahead to the next game week, the Giants will be playing another home game as they take on the Lions who currently sit 2-6 but are in a bye week this week. As you might expect, the Giants are yet again favourites here, at -210, returning $7.38 from $5, but if you feel like a rested Lions team might make the most of their week off, you can look to get them at +175, meaning your $5 returns $13.75. Not too shabby.
So, Giants fans. How do you feel about this? Should he be punished by the team for going off on his own and this happening or do you believe that this is exactly what he says it was, a freak accident? How do you think you’ll manage without Xavier? Is there anyone in particular you’d like to see step in and take his place? With your team sitting 6-2 currently, do you even see this affecting things THAT much? Of course, he is a great player, but one man doesn’t make a team, right?
As for the rest of us, we still have around 8 or 9 game weeks left! How are your teams doing? Are they looking likely for a playoff place or is it going to be a scramble to the finish line? If you’re one of the lucky ones who is a fan of a team that is flying right now, looking at you Eagles and Vikings fans, how likely do you think it is that you’re going to go all the way? What’re the chances you see your boys lifting that trophy come the end of the season? Until next time Football fans, take care.
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