New York Giants rookie Malik Neighbors surprised everyone quite a bit on Sunday when he limped out with an injured left ankle.
An examination revealed the injury was not serious enough to threaten him for Week 1 of the regular season, but there was still question as to whether the team would hold him out of practice for the rest of this week and Saturday's preseason game against the Houston Texans.
As it turns out, the first part of that belief wasn't true and the second part, about Neighbours playing in Saturday's game, may not be true either.
Neighbors practiced with the Giants on Thursday to help prepare the team for Saturday's game. He ran promising routes and looked like he was doing his job, so head coach Brian Daboll wouldn't rule out playing the rookie a few times in Saturday's game with the other starters.
“We'll work it out, like we always do,” Daboll said, “but I definitely think we have a chance.”
Neighbors told reporters this week that he has “no doubt” he'll be ready by Week 1 of the regular season, the more important of the two games. But even though he's practiced a lot with starting quarterback Daniel Jones, it never hurts for the two to get to see some live action together, especially a live pass rush.
“He looked good,” Jones said after practice Thursday, “so, yeah, I think he's good.”
In other positive news, rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr., who stunned everyone on Tuesday when he fell to the ground yelling in pain after taking a punt, returned to the field for individual work.
Tracy was taken off on a stretcher on Tuesday with an air cast on his right foot and was diagnosed with a low ankle sprain. His chances of playing on Saturday are less than Neighbours', but the fact that Tracy was back on the field and training is certainly a positive sign.
