The New York Giants will enter Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints riddled with injury and coming up short in the numbers game, especially on special teams.
“I think in general, from a special teams’ perspective, you’re always trying to create flex for these moments when injuries happen,” coordinator Michael Ghobrial said this week. “Sometimes it feels like maybe there’s a season with more injuries than another, but I think that’s always in the back of any special teams coach’s mind, is if something happens, how do you position your players to get your best 11 out there?”
That’s become a tricky situation, and it led the Giants to claim return man Dee Williams off of waivers from the Seattle Seahawks on Friday.
The 25-year-old Williams signed with the Seahawks as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Tennessee in April. In 12 games this season, he returned 15 punts for 111 yards and nine kickoffs for 254 yards.
But it did not go as well as the numbers may indicate, notes Mookie Alexander of Field Gulls.
I wish I could be nice about it but Williams was an unmitigated disaster. He muffed a punt inside his own 10 in his NFL debut against the Denver Broncos. He let another punt bounce to the 1-yard line in the same game, resulting in an eventual safety. He should’ve been called for another muffed punt against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 6 if not for a television technicality, and wrongly took a kickoff out of the end zone for minimal yardage after dropping it. He muffed a punt in Week 8 versus the Buffalo Bills, and the Jets game was obviously the final straw.
The Giants have issues of their own with running back and return man Eric Gray, who has fumbled three times this season. But they’re in desperate need of bodies and Williams certainly provides that.
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