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Shane Lemieux

Giants To Place G Shane Lemieux On IR

October 19th, 2023 at 11:00am CST by Sam Robinson

The hits are not stopping on the Giants’ offensive line. Battered by injuries over the season’s first several weeks, the team will lose one of its cogs for the year. Shane Lemieux suffered a biceps injury in practice, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero.

Lemieux went down with a biceps tear on Wednesday and is headed to IR. The Giants signed Sean Harlow off their practice squad to replace Lemieux on the 53-man roster. This deals a contract-year lineman a tough blow and brings more trouble for a Giants O-line that has needed to make numerous adjustments to trot out a healthy five this season.

The Giants came into their Week 6 matchup without starting left tackle Andrew Thomas and starting center John Michael Schmitz. The team then needed to move Justin Pugh to left tackle, minutes after the veteran guard’s “straight off the couch” intro debuted on NBC, following second-string blind-sider Joshua Ezeudu went down. Ezeudu is now on IR due to a toe injury. Schmitz has missed the past two games due to injuries sustained on a failed “Tush Push” attempt in Week 4, while Thomas’ setback in a recovery from a hamstring injury has extended his absence. The All-Pro left tackle has not played since Week 1.

For Lemieux, this is familiar territory. Chosen in the 2020 fifth round, Lemieux moved Will Hernandez to a rotational role and entered the 2021 season as a starter as well. But Lemieux began the 2021 slate with a knee injury and ended up playing just 17 snaps that season. He ended up on IR after Week 1 that year and did not return to action until Week 11 of last season. Lemieux’s 2022 campaign ended up also being capped at one game. Activated from IR last November, Lemieux ended the month back on the injured list because of a toe injury. This season marked Lemieux’s first multi-game year since 2020, and a previous absence came about after a groin injury in Week 4.

A Dave Gettleman-era investment, Lemieux did not factor into the Giants’ three-man competition for the guard positions during training camp. The Giants pitted Ezeudu, Mark Glowinski and Ben Bredeson against each other, with the veterans winning the gigs. Glowinski’s struggles to start his second Giants season led Lemieux back into the lineup, however. Lemieux, 26, returned from his groin malady in Buffalo but played behind Pugh and Glowinski.

Thomas, Schmitz, starting right tackle Evan Neal and swingman Matt Peart did not practice Wednesday for the Giants, who may need to start Pugh at left tackle in Week 7. A five-season guard starter in Arizona, Pugh played right tackle at points during his first go-round in New York. The 2013 first-rounder settled in at guard, leading to a nice free agency payday in 2018. But this dire situation may slide the 11th-year blocker back outside.

Latest On Giants’ Offensive Line

October 5th, 2023 at 2:26pm CST by Sam Robinson

Andrew Thomas‘ absence was glaringly visible on a historically bad pass-protection night. The Giants’ 11 sacks allowed set a Monday Night Football record, with backup left tackle Joshua Ezeudu struggling as the Seahawks padded their total late in the rout.

The Giants are expected to be without Thomas against the Dolphins as well. Brian Daboll said he is leaning no on the All-Pro left tackle coming back for Week 5. Thomas sustained a setback on his way back from the strained hamstring he suffered in Week 1, per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. This will make four straight absences.

Ezeudu, who worked as a backup left tackle during parts of training camp, was expected to win one of the guard battles this summer. But those went to Ben Bredeson and Mark Glowinski. Though, the team’s setup inside has changed as well. Despite signing a three-year deal worth $18.3MM, Glowinski has endured multiple demotions this season. The Giants benched the longtime Colts starter after his Week 1 struggles, and the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy notes the veteran has been bumped to the bottom of the depth chart.

New York demoted Glowinski a second time during Week 2, and he did not play an offensive snap in Week 3. Bredeson and 2022 fifth-round pick Marcus McKethan, who missed all of his rookie year due to an ACL tear, opened Week 4 as Big Blue’s guard starters. Pro Football Focus ranks all three blockers outside the top 55 among guards. Shane Lemieux started ahead of Glowinski in Week 3 but suffered a groin injury Monday. The door keeps reopening for Glowinski, a four-year Colts right guard starter whom PFF viewed as a top-30 guard in his first Giants season. A 2024 release seems likely at this point, however. That move will save the Giants $5.7MM.

The Giants did not invest much in guards this offseason, having signed Glowinski in March 2022 and drafted Ezeudu in Round 3 a month later. No answers have come for the team, which has also seen right tackle Evan Neal continue to struggle. This allowed for Seahawks target practice on Daniel Jones on Monday night, and the Giants have since added Justin Pugh. The former 2013 Giants draftee joined the practice squad, but given the team’s guard state, the five-year Cardinals starter should be expected to be elevated soon.

Some additional shuffling became required after center John Michael Schmitz suffered a shoulder injury on the Giants’ failed “Tush Push”-style QB sneak. Adding insult to injury, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes tight end Daniel Bellinger sustained an MCL strain on that play. While Bellinger’s injury is seen as moderate, the Giants losing two regulars on that play — after only previously repping it in a walkthrough setting — compounds the troubles they are experiencing up front.

Matt Peart resides as the only other tackle on the Giants’ roster, in the event the team benches Ezeudu. Thomas, who is now the NFL’s second-highest-paid O-lineman after signing a $23.5MM-per-year extension this summer, is on track to match his career high for single-season absences. He missed four games in 2021 as well.

Giants Add G Justin Pugh To Practice Squad

October 3rd, 2023 at 12:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

In the wake of one of the worst pass-protecting performances in primetime NFL history, the Giants will add an experienced reinforcement. Their recent Justin Pugh visit will produce a reunion.

Pugh is rejoining the Giants on a practice squad deal, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo tweets. A Giants first-round pick back in 2013, Pugh spent five seasons with the franchise before joining the Cardinals as a free agent in 2018. Pugh expressed interest in rejoining the Giants late this summer and worked out for his old team last month. He will join a team reeling up front.

The 11th-year veteran suffered a torn ACL in Week 6 of last season, cutting his Cardinals contract year short. Pugh, 33, considered retirement before last season but had said he received interest from a few teams this offseason. The in-season signing likely comes due to his health, but he received clearance in late August.

The Giants have top-10 draftees at both tackle spots, and second-rounder John Michael Schmitz is in place to stop a center carousel. But the team has not invested too much at guard. Mark Glowinski is attached to a midlevel free agency pact, but the ex-Colts starter needed to compete for his job in training camp and was benched in Week 2. While the Giants did not pursue guards in free agency, letting Nick Gates walk, they are rather desperate for help now.

Injuries, however, have significantly affected the team. Joshua Ezeudu, a guard by trade, has started in place of Thomas at left tackle. Schmitz suffered an injury on the Giants’ failed effort to replicate the Eagles’ “Tush Push/Brotherly Shove” play Monday night. Brian Daboll said (via Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano) the team had not repped that particular QB sneak in practice, only doing so in a walkthrough. The Giants also finished Monday night’s game without backup Shane Lemieux, who suffered a groin injury. The Seahawks finished the 24-3 win with a Monday Night Football-record 11 sacks.

After vacillating between guard and right tackle during his first Giants go-round, Pugh signed with the Cardinals as a guard. He signed a five-year, $45MM contract and started 56 games for the team from 2018-22. (He started 63 games for the Giants, being a regular on the last batch of Eli Manning-led teams.) Pugh represented an O-line constant during Kyler Murray‘s ascent, helping the team to the playoffs in 2021. That season, Pugh ranked fifth among guards in ESPN’s pass block win rate metric.

The Giants will hope the veteran blocker can reprise his pre-injury form. It should be expected Pugh will be promoted to the active roster soon, pending a successful ramp-up period.

Giants Holding Competitions At All Three Interior O-Line Spots

August 8th, 2023 at 4:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

Making two top-10 picks at tackle over the past four years, the Giants have no questions at those positions. They also used a second-round choice on center John Michael Schmitz, and while the Minnesota product is a decent bet to begin his career as a starter, the Giants are not ensuring that route will open up just yet.

More notably, 2022 free agency addition Mark Glowinski does not appear a lock to keep his job, Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post tweets. Swingman Ben Bredeson, who is also in contention for left guard, has mixed in regularly with the first team on the right side, with The Athletic’s Dan Duggan and Charlotte Carroll most recently noting Bredeson’s first-team RG usage (subscription required).

A 2021 trade acquisition from the Ravens, Bredeson has mixed in at all three spots along the Giants’ interior during training camp. He appears the top Schmitz competitor at center, while having begun recent practices (via Duggan) as the first-string left guard. Bredeson mixed in with Glowinski at right guard and 2022 third-round pick Joshua Ezeudu on the left side Tuesday. The former fourth-round pick is going into a contract year.

Bredeson being used at all three spots suggests the Giants have a potential swing role in mind, with Ezeudu also seeing steady first-unit time at left guard. Seeing the Joe Schoen-era Day 2 draftee seize the LG job alongside fellow Schoen pickups Schmitz and Glowinski would probably be the scenario the Giants prefer. Bredeson started eight games last season, playing a career-high 541 offensive snaps. The Giants lost center Jon Feliciano and guard/center Nick Gates in free agency; Bredeson would supply experience and represent insurance alongside Ezeudu (290 rookie-year snaps) and Schmitz.

Glowinski, 31, signed a three-year, $18.3MM deal that came with $11.4MM guaranteed. The longtime Colts starter gave the Giants 16 starts at right guard last season, as a rotation formed at the other guard post. Pro Football Focus graded Glowinski as last year’s No. 29 overall guard. It would be rather odd to see Glowinski benched, but the Giants are going through several options up front. Tyre Phillips, a 2022 waiver claim from the Ravens, has also taken first-team reps at left guard, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com tweets.

This batch of blockers looks to have relegated Shane Lemieux to the roster bubble, Duggan adds. The fourth-year lineman has not been among the competitors for the Giants’ LG job. Lemieux has battled significant injury problems over the past two years, seeing a September 2021 patellar tendon tear keep him off the field until November 2022. A toe injury then limited Lemieux to one game all season. With the Giants activating former fifth-rounder Marcus McKethan from the active/PUP list Monday — after an August 2022 ACL tear — Lemieux will need to fight for a job during this year’s preseason. While Lemieux has mixed in as a backup center as well, Jack Anderson is also on the radar for that post.

The Giants chose Schmitz at No. 56 overall, viewing him as the better option compared to consideration Jalin Hyatt, whom they circled back to in Round 3. Just before the Schmitz pick, Brian Daboll said the All-Big Ten blocker could start in Week 1. Schmitz received every first-team center rep Tuesday, per Duggan and Carroll. It would surprise if he were not Big Blue’s starting pivot to open the season.

Latest On Giants’ Offensive Line

June 1st, 2023 at 11:01am CST by Sam Robinson

The Giants selecting John Michael Schmitz in Round 2, making the Minnesota product the first pure center drafted this year, points to four positions along their offensive line being solidified. Schmitz earning the starting snapper gig would mean he accompanies Andrew Thomas, Evan Neal and Mark Glowinski on New York’s O-line.

With Glowinski stationed at right guard, left guard would seem the unit’s only question. That is, if Brian Daboll‘s draft-weekend assessment of Schmitz’s instant-starter capabilities turns out to be accurate. But the Giants are sending veteran Ben Bredeson into two position competitions, per the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy.

The 2021 trade acquisition is vying for both the left guard and center positions, with Dunleavy adding the ex-Raven should probably be considered the favorite at the LG spot. The Giants used a rotation at that position last season, platooning Bredeson and Nick Gates. Washington signed Gates in free agency, clearing a path for Bredeson to earn the job outright in a contract year. Bredeson is going against fellow contract-year blocker Shane Lemieux and 2022 third-round pick Joshua Ezeudu, per Dunleavy.

Lemieux held a starting job during the second half of the 2020 season, replacing Will Hernandez and taking over after the former starter recovered, but suffered a patellar tendon tear in September 2021. That career-stalling injury delayed Lemieux’s return until late November of last year, and the former fifth-round pick only suited up for one game last season. A toe injury added to Lemieux’s early-career health issues. Ezeudu, one of two ex-North Carolina guards the Giants drafted last year (along with fifth-rounder Marcus McKethan), played 290 offensive snaps as a rookie.

Pro Football Focus graded Glowinski, a longtime Colts starter, as a top-30 guard last season. It slotted Bredeson as the best of the rest, ranking him just outside the top 50. Bredson, a former fourth-round pick, has played guard more than center and should probably be considered a long shot to beat out Schmitz at the latter spot. With Bredeson, Lemieux, Ezeudu and McKethan rostered, along with ex-Steelers center J.C. Hassenauer and 2022 second-stringer Jack Anderson, the Giants will have some decisions to make when setting their final 53. McKethan did not play last year, suffering an ACL tear during the preseason.

None of these interior blockers is in the mix to be the team’s top tackle off the bench, with Matt Peart, Korey Cunningham and Tyre Phillips are battling for the swing gig behind Thomas and Neal. Phillips, claimed off waivers from the Ravens last year, made five starts in 2022 but worked behind the other two to start OTAs. Peart and Cunningham each have six career starts, though neither has seen much time since their respective rookie years. An outside addition to work behind Thomas and Neal should not be ruled out, per Dunleavy.

These O-line competitions will not heat up until training camp, obviously, as pads do not come on until August. Despite losing Gates and 2022 center starter Jon Feliciano in free agency, the Giants have a few options along their offensive front.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/28/22

December 28th, 2022 at 8:50pm CST by Adam La Rose

Here are Wednesday’s minor moves around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Detroit Lions

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders 

Giants Activate OL Shane Lemieux From IR

November 19th, 2022 at 3:27pm CST by Ben Levine

3:25pm: The Giants have used one of their injury activations on Lemieux, who has not played since September 2021. The third-year veteran is expected to see steady action in his Week 11 debut.

9:42am: Shane Lemieux has been limited to only one game over the past two seasons, but the Giants lineman should be back on the field this weekend. The Giants are expected to activate the offensive guard from injured reserve today, according to Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com (on Twitter). Lemieux is expected to immediately start for New York.

Lemieux suffered a foot injury during the Giants’ preseason opener, and that issue (and the subsequent surgery) ended up keeping the offensive lineman off the field for months. The 25-year-old returned to practice earlier this month, and now he’ll be thrown right into the fire as he’s expected to start against the Lions.

The former fifth-round pick immediately had a role for the Giants as a rookie, starting nine of his 12 games that season. While sites like Pro Football Focus weren’t particularly fond of his performance in 2020, he was still expected to play a significant role on the offensive line in 2021. However, a knee injury ended up limiting Lemieux to only a single appearance last season. Lemieux was once again expected to play an important role in 2022, but his foot injury derailed that plan.

“It’s been a hard couple years,” Lemieux recently told Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. “I’m a ballplayer. I love football. Being on the field is the best feeling in the world. When you get taken away from the game, you realize how important it is to you. I’m ready to get back out there, for sure.”

The Giants offensive line has struggled with injuries all season, but the unit is slowly and surely getting healthier. In addition to Lemieux, Evan Neal and Ben Bredeson are both expected to soon return from their respective knee injuries.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/7/22

November 7th, 2022 at 7:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Monday’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Cincinnati Bengals

Detroit Lions

Las Vegas Raiders

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

  • Designated for return: G Shane Lemieux
  • Placed on IR: DT Nicholas Williams

Lemieux has been out since September 2021. A severe knee injury paused Lemieux’s career, sidelining him after he had commandeered a starting job. The Giants drafted Lemieux in the 2020 fifth round and turned to him as a starter for much of his rookie season. But the team’s new regime addressed the interior line extensively this offseason, signing Mark Glowinski and Jon Feliciano before drafting Joshua Ezeudu and Marcus McKethan.

The Giants, however, lost McKethan for the season and are without starting left guard Ben Bredeson. The team having Lemieux and former center starter Nick Gates, who also battled back from a severe injury, back will provide some options for Brian Daboll up front. Bredeson, whom the team placed on IR last week, will be a candidate to be one of Big Blue’s injury activations later this season.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/1/22

September 1st, 2022 at 6:08pm CST by Ben Levine

Teams continue to tinker with their rosters after hundreds of players were cut earlier this week. We’ve tracked all of today’s minor moves below:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Wednesday NFL Transactions: NFC East

August 31st, 2022 at 2:53pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These Commanders, Cowboys, Eagles and Giants moves are noted below.

Here are Wednesday’s NFC East transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.

Dallas Cowboys

Signed to practice squad:

New York Giants

Signed:

Released:

Claimed:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

Philadelphia Eagles

Claimed: 

Waived:

Signed to practice squad:

Washington Commanders

Released:

Claimed:

Waived:

Placed on IR:

Signed to practice squad:

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