Giants receiver active against Falcons

The Giants entered Sunday’s game against the Falcons at full strength, in terms of getting all of their offensive skills players on the pitch.

The only player in question, wide receiver Kenny Golladay, passed a rigorous pre-game test, under the watchful eyes of head coach Joe Judge, general manager Dave Gettleman, offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, coaches and medical staff. Golladay, listed as questionable with a hip injury, ran routes, sprinted, stopped and started. Afterward, he met with all interested parties and it was determined that he was ready to play.

Golladay missed most of training camp and all three preseason games with hamstring strain. He started his career slowly with the Giants, scoring just seven receptions for 102 yards in his first two games, both losses. He yelled at Garrett in the second half of Thursday night’s 30-29 loss to Washington, frustrated with the way the offense was playing and its role in it.

Despite missing so much time over the summer, Golladay was on the pitch for 85% of the offensive snaps from the first two games. Receiver coach Tyke Tolbert said last week he believed a somewhat reduced workload would benefit Golladay, who admitted he got tired by the end of the first two games.

With Golladay available, quarterback Daniel Jones needed to be surrounded by all the talent the front office had gathered for him. Tight end Evan Engram missed the first two games with a strained calf, but he was set to make his 2021 debut against the Falcons. Golladay and Engram have joined a group of offensive talent that includes Sterling Shepard, Darius Slayton and Kadarius Toney as wide receiver and Saquon Barkley as running back.

This will be the first time in the last 34 games that the Giants will have all of their best offensive players available to play. The last time was week 2 of last season, when Barkley tore his ACL in the second quarter, ending his 2020 season.