Giants Work Out Marshall Koehn
- The Packers worked out running back Dare Ogunbowale on Wednesday while the Giants took a look at kicker Marshall Koehn, tweets Balzer. Green Bay is dealing with injuries to both Aaron Jones and Ty Montgomery, so the club is looking for backfield options. New York, meanwhile, has now auditioned kickers in two consecutive days, a sign the team could be frustrated with incumbent Aldrick Rosas‘ 66.7% field goal conversion rate.
NFL Workout Updates: 11/14/17
Today’s workout updates, with all links going to veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:
Chicago Bears
- QB Taylor Heinicke; WRs Demarcus Ayers, Canaan Severin, Paul Turner; G Darrell Greene (link)
Cincinnati Bengals
- T Laurence Gibson (link)
Detroit Lions
- DE Armonty Bryant; LB Max Valles; S Duke Ihenacho (link)
Houston Texans
- TEs Brandon Barnes, Gabe Holmes (link)
Indianapolis Colts
- QB Tyler Ferguson; RBs Ka’Deem Carey, Dare Ogunbowale, Juwan Thompson; WRs Dres Anderson, Isaac Fruechte, Alonzo Moore, Tim Patrick (link)
Jacksonville Jaguars
- LSs Ryan DiSalvo, Andrew East, Drew Ferris (link)
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
- Ks Andrew Franks, Jason Myers (link)
Philadelphia Eagles
- OL Jeremiah Poutasi (link)
San Francisco 49ers
- G Jake Eldrenkamp; C Anthony Fabiano (link)
Seattle Seahawks
- LBs Boseko Lokombo, Jason Thompson (link)
Washington Redskins
- S Lorenzo Jerome (link)
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/14/17
Today’s practice squad updates:
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: QB Garrett Grayson
- Waived: K Mike Meyer
Cincinnati Bengals
- Signed: CB Sojourn Shelton
Baltimore Ravens
- Signed: FB Ricky Ortiz
- Waived: G Jason King
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: WR Dres Anderson
- Waived: WR KeVonn Mabon
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: DT Rickey Hatley
- Waived: T Nick Becton, WR Amba Etta-Tawo
Minnesota Vikings
- Signed: S Jack Tocho
- Waived: G Willie Beavers
New York Giants
- Signed: T Nick Becton
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: S Harold Jones-Quartey
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: OL Cameron Hunt
- Placed on injured list: OL J.P. Flynn
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: S Alex Carter, LB P.J. Dawson, CB Trovon Reed
- Placed on injured list: CB Akeem King
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Signed: WR Freddie Martino
- Waived: DE Patrick Gamble, CB David Rivers
Washington Redskins
- Waived: DE Tavaris Barnes
Giants Sign LB Akeem Ayers, G John Greco
The Giants announced that they have signed linebacker Akeem Ayers and guard John Greco. They also placed linebacker Keenan Robinson (quad) on injured reserve and elevated wide receiver Kalif Raymond from the practice squad. To make room, they cut defensive end Devin Taylor and waived wide receiver Ed Eagan. 
Ayers auditioned for the Giants in September and again on Nov. 8. In the most recent workout, he apparently made a good impression on coaches. Ayers finished out last season with 18 tackles, two sacks, and one interception for the Colts. He graded out as the No. 54 edge defender in the NFL out of 110 qualified players, per Pro Football Focus’ metrics. He didn’t exactly set the world on fire last season, but he does offer experience as a starter from his time with the Titans (2011-2013) and Rams (2015). In 2014, he won a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots.
Greco, 32, joined the Saints in early October but was released without having played a down. Injuries forced him to miss six total games from 2015-16 for the Browns, but he was effective while healthy. Last year, he graded as the league’s No. 18 guard among 75 qualifiers last season, per PFF. All told, Greco offers 111 games — and 70 starts — worth of experience.
The Giants aren’t playing for much at this point, but they are curious to see if Ayers, Greco, and Raymond can be worthwhile players for 2018.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/13/17
Here are today’s practice squad moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: CB Jarell Carter
Chicago Bears
- Signed: WR Tanner Gentry, OL Travis Averill
- Released: WR Darreus Rogers
New York Giants
- Signed: TE Matt LaCosse
San Francisco 49ers
- Placed on injured list: OL J.P. Flynn
Giants To Stick With Ben McAdoo For Now
It sounds like Ben McAdoo‘s job is safe. At least, until the end of the season. Giants owners John Mara and Steve Tisch released a statement on Monday afternoon that seems to indicate the team will not consider a coaching change until the year is through. 
“Ben McAdoo is our head coach and has our support. We are in the midst of an extremely disappointing season. Our performance this year, particularly the past two weeks, is inexcusable and frustrating. While we appreciate that our fans are unhappy with what has occurred, nobody is more upset than we are.
Our plan is to do what we have always done, which is to not offer a running commentary on the season. It is our responsibility to determine the reasons for our poor performance and at the end of the year, we will evaluate the 2017 season in its entirety and make a determination on how we move forward.”
The Giants fell to 1-8 after allowing the Niners to capture their first win of the season on Sunday. One could argue that the Giants fell out of the playoff race when Odell Beckham Jr. suffered his season-ending injury, but the problems appear to run much deeper. Players have been insolent and some have even spoken out against McAdoo anonymously.
It would be a surprise if McAdoo returns as head coach in 2018, but it would be equally surprising to see him sacked in the middle of the season after today’s comments.
Latest on Ben McAdoo’s Job Security
The Giants helped end the 49ers winless season when they lost to the previously defeated team, 31-21, this afternoon. The defeat had many in the media pointing to just how long of a leash head coach Ben McAdoo had as the leader of this team. Obviously, McAdoo is only in his second season on the job, the first of which he led New York to their first playoff birth since their 2012 Super Bowl run. But we all know job security for NFL coaches is a fickle proposition to begin with, and at 1-8, the Giants will have to start to answer these hot seat questions with some regularity until a definitive answer is given.
General manager Jerry Reese chose not to make a comment about his head coach’s job security after today’s loss, reports James Kratch of NJ Advanced Media (Twitter link). It’s not unusual for NFL executives to not comment on specific decisions if those decisions haven’t been made yet, but it’s worth noting that the general manager did not go out of his way to defend his coach either.
On the other end of the spectrum, one of the better players on the team, safety Landon Collins, offered strong words of support for McAdoo. “He needs to be the coach next year,” said the All-pro safety (via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post).
While many players didn’t necessarily offer the same type of backing for their head coach, they did express a lot of disappointment with the way things unfolded in San Francisco, as Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com passed along after the game.
Starting offensive lineman Justin Pugh said of the defeat that, “Lose to an 0-9 team, it doesn’t get much worse than that,” (via Raanan). Star pass rusher Olivier Vernon was even more simple in responding to reporters, calling the loss “embarrassing” (via Raanan).
McAdoo himself didn’t really address his current job situation during his postgame press conference, opting to focus on what unfolded on the field and looking forward to next week.
McAdoo said of his job security that he, “doesn’t have anything to do with anything,” and that he’s not really worried about his hold on his head coach title, according to Raanan (Twitter link).
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/12/17
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Placed on injured reserve: TE Ifeanyi Momah
New York Giants
- Waived from injured reserve: DE Nordly Capi
Giants Will Not Bench Eli Manning
- The Giants have no plans to bench Eli Manning, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes. Although their long-time signal-caller does not figure to be a part of any long-term rebuild, Rapoport says it would take a catastrophe for Big Blue to sit Manning down this season.
One-Team Career Important To Eli Manning
This week has been among the more grim Giants stretches in many years. Anonymous players came forward to criticize Ben McAdoo, and the statuses of the head coach and GM Jerry Reese aren’t exactly entrenched going into 2018. And the Giants are ready to look at the 2018 quarterback crop for a possible high first-round selection. Eli Manning, though, still looms as the team’s franchise passer with two full seasons remaining on his contract. While it doesn’t make much sense for a 36-year-old quarterback to be around for the kind of rebuild the Giants may want to embark upon, Manning would prefer to finish his career with one team, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com notes.
While Graziano mentions the Jaguars and Broncos as teams that would make sense as possible Manning suitors via trade, he writes the possibility of landing back on a contender — with these teams missing a quarterback to complement top-flight defenses — wouldn’t necessarily override Manning’s desire to play his entire career with New York. Manning having a no-trade clause makes his desires rather significant as the Giants begin plans for their future.