The Washington Football Team will meet the New York Giants in an NFC East battle on Thursday night at FedEx Field. Both teams enter this Week 2 matchup with a 0-1 record.
While it’s way too soon to call this a must-win game for anyone, Washington cannot afford to drop two consecutive home games to begin the season. The Football Team has a trip to Buffalo in Week 3.
Each team listed their final injury reports on Thursday, and things looked good for Washington. With quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick now on IR and running back Antonio Gibson, a full participant for the second day in a row, the Football Team heads into Thursday’s game in good shape.
As for the Giants, they will be without two starters and a key performer on special teams.
Starting tight end Evan Engram will miss the game with a calf injury. Fortunately for New York, it signed veteran Kyle Rudolph in the offseason. Rudolph can still play and offers more as a blocker than Engram.
Guard Shane Lemieux will miss the game with a knee injury. This will cause more shuffling on New York’s already questionable offensive line.
Linebacker Cam Brown will also miss the game with a knee injury.
Running back Saquon Barkley is listed as questionable with a knee injury as he is still getting back to 100% after knee surgery last season. Barkley played on Sunday and felt some normal soreness on Monday. According to Next Gen Stats, Barkley was the least effective running back in the NFL last week, per Dan Benton at Giants Wire.
Washington may be catching a break playing Barkley this early in the season.
Week 2 Final Injury Report: pic.twitter.com/7SJ1hRDw6t
— Washington Football PR (@Wash_PR) September 15, 2021