As New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll addressed the media on September 24, there was one bit of transactional news to report.
“Daboll said practice squad TE Lawrence Cager is headed to IR,” The Athletic’s Dan Duggan relayed on X. “[Daboll] said last week, tough to be a practice squad player who doesn’t practice. Giants figure to sign a TE to the P-squad from yesterday’s workout.”
As predicted, it wasn’t long before Big Blue made things official with one of the September 23 tryouts.
Duggan was the first to report once again, informing: “The Giants are signing TE Joel Wilson from yesterday’s workout to the practice squad, per source.”
Of the four tight ends brought in for a look on Monday of Week 4, Wilson was actually the least experienced at the NFL level.
The former Central Michigan product has spent the past two preseasons with the Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers according to Football Database, but he has yet to appear in a pro-level regular season game.
Wilson registered 6 catches for 45 yards and 3 first downs with the Packers this summer. At Central Michigan, he accumulated 874 yards, 12 touchdowns and 44 first downs over 33 appearances — 23 of which were starts.
Hard-Luck Season Continues for Giants TE Lawrence Cager
Everything was falling into place for Cager to take on a heightened role this offseason.
Starter Darren Waller appeared to be leaning toward retirement, Daniel Bellinger had been banged up with injury, and there was no guarantee rookie Theo Johnson would be ready to start in Week 1. Not to mention Cager got off to a hot start at OTAs and training camp.
Then came the initial setback for the 6-foot-5 pass-catcher — a hamstring injury that sidelined Cager for the remainder of training camp and the entire 2024 preseason.
In the end, Cager still did enough both this spring and in previous years to remain with the Giants on a practice squad deal, but as Duggan noted, those spots are contingent upon health and availability. Heading into Week 4, it appears Cager is no longer healthy enough to retain his role.
All in all, this has been a really unfortunate turn of events for the former wide receiver turned tight end. With a similar body type and athleticism as Waller, Cager entered OTAs as a potential short-term replacement before all the injuries. Instead, he’s an afterthought.
And to make matters worse, the Giants could really use more tight end production with just 9 catches and 51 yards between Johnson and Bellinger over the first three weeks.
Giants Could Be Without 2 CBs vs. Cowboys
On the injury front, the Giants’ only projected “did not practice” tags were nickelback Dru Phillips and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson on September 24. Both are dealing with calf injuries.
With very little time to get healthy before the Thursday night outing against the Dallas Cowboys, that puts Phillips and Jackson’s respective statuses in doubt.
Having said that, cornerback Nick McCloud could return after missing two weeks with a knee injury, per Duggan. The NYG beat reporter called McCloud’s potential availability a “big boost” for Big Blue, considering they could be shorthanded in the secondary.
Practice squad cornerback Art Green made his Giants debut during the Week 3 win over the Cleveland Browns. It’s possible we could see the 24-year-old elevated for the second straight game on Thursday.
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