Tag: Gunner Olszewski

Giants place Gary Brightwell on IR, activate two from practice squad

The New York Giants have placed RB Gary Brightwell on IR and made several other transactions, including two practice squad elevations.

The New York Giants have placed running back and special teams ace Gary Brightwell on injured reserve.

Brightwell, who’s been dealing with a hamstring injury, will miss at least the next four games, and he’s eligible to return in Week 12 against the New England Patriots.

Brightwell has not played an offensive snap since Week 4 and has only been used on special teams the past three games. He didn’t practice all this week due to a hamstring issue and was ruled out for this week’s game against the New York Jets on Sunday.

The Giants have added both Jashaun Corbin and Deon Jackson to the active roster to serve as running back depth behind Saquon Barkley and Matt Breida. Corbin is expected to be a candidate for punt return duties in the wake of the injury to Eric Gray.

The Giants also signed the recently added Gunner Olszewski from their practice to squad to the 53-man roster, replacing the aforementioned Brightwell.

Finally, quarterback Tommy DeVito and linebacker Oshane Ximines were elevated from the practice squad. Both are considered standard elevations.

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Giants hope new additions help fix punt return issues

The New York Giants added several players this week with the hope that some of them will help shore up the punt return issues.

The New York Giants’ special teams have been a unit the team has prided themselves in ever since Thomas McGaughey took over as coordinator back in 2018.

The ‘teams’ as they are known, have been among the tops in the league, especially when it comes to kick and punt coverage. The return group was never outstanding, but were always respectable and rarely did they cough up the football and coat the team games.

This year, the returners have been less than palatable. Kickoff returns are basically non-existent if handled correctly but punt returns are still very much a thing and Giants are not faring very well.

The plan was to have rookie running back Eric Gray handle punt returns, which he did — sometimes. Gray was a disaster as have the players who have spelled him.

The Giants are averaging just 3.8 yards on punt returns and have fumbled — or muffed — four punts this season through seven games.

Gray was placed on injured reserve (IR) last week and the Giants will no longer have to worry about his ball security issues until next season, but who will handle the load the rest of the way this year?

Sterling Shepard was inserted in place of Gray last week but he had never returned a punt in his entire eight-year NFL career. He isn’t the guy.

The Giants signed veteran returner Gunner Olszewski to the practice squad this week and then added running backs Jashaun Corbin and Deon Jackson to the active roster.

“He’s typical Gunner,” McGaughey said of what he saw in Olszewski during his workout earlier this week. “The same thing you see on tape, he does a good job of tracking the ball and excellent punt catcher. Early in his career, he had a really, really, really good start. He does a great job of getting the ball vertical, so good player.”

Corbin has been in the Giants’ orbit for the past two years and was recently on the Carolina Panthers practice squad. He will get an opportunity to return as well.

“Jashaun did a great job when he was here,” said McGaughey. “It was tough, but he did a great job and I love the kid. He works his tail off, he plays hard, he’s physical and he’s a good man. He’s a great teammate, all the guys know they were super happy to get him back because he is such a good guy and a great teammate, but no, he did a really good job in the spring and last year as a young player. He’ll be fine.”

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Giants place two on IR, make other roster moves

The New York Giants made a series of roster moves on Tuesday, impacting both their 53-man roster and their practice squad.

The New York Giants made several roster moves on Tuesday, signing veteran kick/punt returner Gunner Olszewski and outside linebacker Justin Hollins to the practice squad.

Offensive tackle Matt Peart (shoulder) and running back Eric Gray (calf) were placed on injured reserve.

In other moves, the Giants added running back Jashuan Corbin to the roster, claiming him off the Carolina Panthers practice squad and claimed running back Deon Jackson, a high school teammate of Andrew Thomas and college teammate of Daniel Jones, off waivers from Cleveland.

The moves should give the Giants a little more stability on special teams, where they have been struggling with what should be second-nature functions.

Corbin spent last season on the Giants’ practice squad after getting cut after training camp. He was elevated to the active roster for one game during the postseason and spent all summer with the team only to get cut again.

Hollins has played in 55 NFL games in his career for the Denver Broncos, Laos Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers. He won a Super Bowl ring as a member of the Rams.

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Giants sign WR Gunner Olszewski to practice squad

The New York Giants have signed veteran wide receiver and one-time All-Pro punt returner, Gunner Olszewski, to their practice squad.

The New York Giants held their weekly workouts in East Rutherford on Monday and this time around, there was a focus on return men.

“I’d say we’re going to look at it here. We’re going to look at it,” head coach Brian Daboll said when asked about changing their punt returner. “We’ll have workouts this week like we always do.”

The need for a new punt returner comes after a Sunday debacle in which both running back Eric Gray and wide receiver Sterling Shepard muffed punts, resulting in one turnover. The Giants eventually resorted to using wide receiver Darius Slayton, who was simply instructed to call a fair catch or allow the ball to bounce.

Slayton, of course, drew some Bronx cheers for doing exactly that.

But come a Week 8 game against the New York Jets, there will likely be a new player returning punts for the Giants.

Following Monday’s workouts, the Giants signed veteran wide receiver Gunner Olszewski.

The 26-year-old Olszewski was originally signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Bemidji State in 2019. After three seasons with the Pats, Olszewski spent a year-plus with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was released on October 21.

Olszewski was named a First Team All-Pro in 2020 when he led the NFL with 346 punt return yards. He also had a long of 70 yards and brought one back for a touchdown that season.

In 55 career games (four starts), Olszewski has hauled in 15 receptions for 180 yards and one touchdown, and rushed the ball 14 times for 71 yards. He’s also returned 41 kickoffs for 904 yards and 75 punts for 897 yards and one touchdown.

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Steelers to release WR Gunner Olszewski

The Steelers are moving on from Gunner Olszewski.

According to NFL reporter Tom Pelissero, the Pittsburgh Steelers are planning to release wide receiver/kick returner Gunner Olszewski.The Steelers signed Olszewski ahead of the 2022 season after he spent his first three years with the New England Patriots.

Olszewski was a first-team All-Pro in 2020 as a return man but never found a place with the Steelers. He never broke out as a return man and offered almost nothing on offense. Olszewski only has 15 career receptions despite Pittsburgh’s insistence on getting him on the field.

The Steelers are working to get running back Anthony McFarland Jr. back onto the field and he should provide some punch as a return man. Wide receiver Diontae Johnson is also coming back from IR so Olszewski wasn’t going to see much of the field.

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Why the Steelers are keeping WR Gunner Olszewski around

Turns out, we can also blame Canada.

Cornerback Desmond King, who couldn’t be any worse than Chandon Sullivan or maybe even Patrick Peterson, is reportedly being sent packing. The move leaves Pittsburgh Steelers fans wondering why not wide receiver Gunner Olszewski. The latter has been the biggest waste of a roster spot since Derek Watt. He’s cost the Steelers games — but would cost the Steelers more money to release and replace than keep him around. Seems like money should be no object and games should.

Turns out, we can also blame Canada.

“Offensive coordinator Matt Canada mostly asked Olszewski to run-block and take the occasional jet sweep,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Brian Batko wrote in September. “While those duties don’t exactly make him the most exciting player from the outside, it also speaks to what the Steelers value in him. He’s willing to do anything and everything on a football field, and while most players say that, Olszewski lives it. Beyond his receiving involvement or lack thereof, he also puts his body on the line as a blocker, covers kicks and punts, really whatever is needed.”

As for special teams, Olszewski has done more harm than good. A 2019 first-team All-Pro returner for the New England Patriots, he’s looked anything but in Pittsburgh. Last year, he muffed a punt deep in Steelers territory against his old team and nearly lost another fumble Week 4 against the New York Jets.

This year, he’s somehow gotten worse. Where do we start? In front of the entire nation in Week 2, Olszewski toe-tapped the kickoff instead of letting it go out of bounds, costing the Steelers 30 yards. Perhaps that’s not the best time to show off your fancy balancing skills. Later in the same game, he gets clocked by Denzel Ward and loses a fumble. The Browns scored a touchdown four plays later.

Most recently, Joey Porter Jr. covered up for what could’ve been a costly mistake. The ball was jarred loose from Olszewski’s grip by Baltimore on a late-game punt return. Cornerback Kevon Seymore stumbled, or it would’ve been an easy scoop and score. The play set the Ravens up nicely in the red zone, and if it hadn’t been for Porter’s pick, it would’ve been an entirely different ball game.

Whew!

With the expected return of Anthony McFarland to the lineup, Olszewski (hopefully) won’t be returning kicks. He’s not even likely to be active if the Steelers are fully healthy this week. Heck, he could be released if bringing back McFarland, Diontae Johnson and signing Darius Rush puts the Steelers over capacity.

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A Steelers punt returner catching a bad punt inbounds cost his team great field positioning

“Feet too good.”

Sometimes, it’s better not to touch the ball when you’re on special teams.

That’s the hard lesson Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Gunner Olszewski learned on Monday Night Football game against the Cleveland Browns.

After the Browns kicked a field goal, the ensuing kickoff went hurling out of bounds before it reached the end zone.

That would’ve given the Steelers great field position on their side of the field, but Olszewski made a bit too good of a play on the ball to keep it inbounds.

NFL fans couldn’t believe the Steelers snagged a pick-six on the Browns on the first play of the game

The wideout made a really nice toe-tapping catch on the sideline on the Cleveland punt, which put the Steelers ball at around their own 9-yard line. If Olszewski had just let the punt go, the ball would’ve been on the 40.

“Feet too good,” ESPN broadcaster Joe Buck joked about the catch during his discussion of the special teams snafu.

Hey, we’re all human, and Olszewski was clearly trying to make some play on the ball there he felt was important. However, his heads-up play ended up costing the Steelers a lot of yardage.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.

Ex-Patriot Gunner Olszewski comments after muffed punt costs Steelers against former team

Gunner Olszewski wanted to ‘show out’ against the Patriots, but he instead made the critical mistake that cost the Steelers.

Heading into Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers receiver/return man Gunner Olszewski took it as an opportunity to get even with his former team.

He said he wanted to “show out” when facing a Patriots team he felt didn’t want him. Instead, he ended up making the crucial mistake in the third quarter that might have cost the Steelers the game. It was a muffed punt that set the Patriots up in the red zone for an easy seven points to extend the lead in what was mostly a defensive game.

“I just dropped it,” Olszewski said, per Boston.com’s Khari Thompson. “That’s on me. Game that tight, you can’t have mistakes like that.”

It was a rough turn of events for Olszewski in a game that came down to mistakes. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin pointed to the muffed punt as a significant moment in the game that really hurt the team against the Patriots.

“We had our moments,” said Tomlin. “We won some possession downs on offense, we won some possession downs on defense. But, again, that seven points in a two-minute circumstance and their ability to put seven points on the board after we didn’t handle the punt were the significant components of the game.”

Olszewski joined the Patriots as an undrafted rookie free agent back in 2019. After three years with the team, he signed a two-year deal with the Steelers back in March.

We’ll see how he responds in Week 3 with Pittsburgh heading back out on the road for a divisional meeting with the Cleveland Browns, while the Patriots turn the page to a tough matchup at home with the Baltimore Ravens.

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Source: Patriots won’t place tender offer on WR Gunner Olszewski

Does this mark the end of Gunner Olszewski’s time with the Patriots? He will enter unrestricted free agency.

The New England Patriots will not place a tender offer on restricted free agent receiver Gunner Olszewski, according to a league source and as first reported by ESPN’s Mike Reiss. Olszewski will enter unrestricted free agency at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

Had New England used a tender offer with right of first refusal, he would have received $2.5 million for 2021. Other teams, however, could offer more than that, if they wanted. A second-round tender would pay out Olszewski at just under $4 million.

During his three-year Patriots’ career, he finished with 66 punt returns for 834 yards and one touchdown. He also returned 36 kickoffs for 834 yards. While he was stellar as a returner, he never quite developed as a receiver, where he mustered nine catches for 127 yards and a touchdown and six carries for 32 yards.

Olszewksi joined the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent out of Bemidji State, where he played cornerback. New England converted him to receiver and returner.

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The 8 toughest cuts from our Patriots 53-man roster projection

From receiver Gunner Olszewski to kicker Quinn Nordin.

The New England Patriots will surely put a lot of brainpower into making their final decision for the 53-man roster. Every year, Bill Belichick toils over the puzzle of cutting down to 53 Patriots.

This year, we are likely to see a handful of truly difficult decisions from the Patriots, with Belichick seemingly understanding how stressful these days can be for his players.

“Every team is going to have to release players and that’s always hard when players have come in and have done the best they can and given you everything they have,” Belichick said Sunday. “There are some players that you’re going to have to say we don’t have a spot for it, but I think we all knew that when we signed up for it. I’ve been on waivers a few times myself, so I’m familiar with that process. That’s part of the competitive nature of pro sports.”

So let’s look at eight players who missed the cut in our 53-man roster projection.