Jim O’Connor-USA TODAY Sports
Just when it looks as if the New York Giants cannot sink any further, the ground opens up to let them plunge to an even greater depth.
On Wednesday, the Giants announced that running back David Wilson could miss time beyond tonight’s matchup against the Chicago Bears. The news comes as a dagger for the New York rushing attack that was already ranked dead-last in the NFL.
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Now, the options at running back include Brandon Jacobs, Da’Rel Scott and rookie Michael Cox.
Everybody knows what the Giants can get out Jacobs and Scott, which is very little. Jacobs was solid in the place of Wilson a week ago, but solid for him was racking up 37 yards on 11 carries.
Scott has rushed the ball 16 times for 56 yards on the year. The Giants had let Scott go but re-signed him when Wilson went down.
The most intriguing option in the backfield is rookie Michael Cox. New York drafted Cox in the seventh round out of the University of Massachusetts. Cox has no rushes on the season but showed a bit of a spark back in the preseason, which now seems like light-years ago. He started the year on special teams as the primary kick returner, but Wilson took over for him after the first week.
There is really no reason not to at least give Cox an opportunity while Wilson is out.
The saga of the Giants’ running game has been tear-inducing. The Giants decided to part ways with an injury-plagued Ahmad Bradshaw in the offseason. The plan was to use Wilson and Andre Brown in a dual-back set, while they groomed Wilson to be the eventual feature back.
During the preseason, the Giants had one of their legs chopped off when Brown fractured his leg. Wilson then pumped the coaching staff full of worry with two costly fumbles in Week 1. Flooded with panic, the Giants brought back Jacobs to join Wilson and Scott in the depleted backfield.
If Jacobs and Scott are rendered useless by the Chicago defense, what would it hurt to throw the rookie in for some snaps and much-needed experience? At this point, the Giants can’t be afraid of spinning into oblivion. That process started five weeks ago.
Daniel Brennan covers the New York Giants for www.RantSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter @DBrennan30 and add him to your network on Google.
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