Tag: Javon Leake

Lions make 5 roster moves to get to the 80-man limit

The Lions waived QB Jordan Ta’amu among the five players cut on Monday

The Detroit Lions made a series of roster moves on Monday to get to the 80-man roster limit.

The team released wide receiver Darius Jennings and waived four other players:

  • DT P.J. Johnson
  • RB Javon Leake
  • LB Robert McCray
  • QB Jordan Ta’amu

Jennings earns a different designation as a vested veteran and is not subject to waiver claims. All the other players are now eligible to be claimed by another team.

The players who were cut are not a surprise, though McCray was generally expected to last through to the next wave. McCray was the only player who began training camp with the Lions and had some good reps in the preseason games.

Detroit has until next Tuesday to cut down to the 53-man limit. The Lions play their third and final preseason game Friday night at home against the Indianapolis Colts.

Lions sign RB Javon Leake to help injury-ravaged backfield

Lions sign RB Javon Leake to help injury-ravaged backfield and released Michael Warren with injury designation

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Dealing with several injuries at the running back position and with the preseason opener just two days away, the Detroit Lions added free agent RB Javon Leake to the active roster.

Leake, 22, is in his second NFL season. He spent 2020 as an undrafted rookie with both the New York Giants and Washington Football Team, primarily on the Football Team’s practice squad. Leake played collegiately at Maryland. He also has some kick return ability and that led to Leake’s limited action as a rookie, serving as Washington’s punt returner in one game last season.

To make room for Leake, the Lions waived RB Michael Warren with an injury designation. Warren was one of several Lions runners sidelined, a list that includes starter D’Andre Swift (groin) and rookie seventh-rounder Jermar Jefferson (ankle)

Washington places Geron Christian on IR; signs Maryland RB Javon Leake to practice squad

Washington’s depth on the offensive line is depleting, with Geron Christian now being sent to the IR and Cornelius Lucas in doubt for Sunday.

The Washington Football Team made a couple of roster moves on Thursday morning, signing former Mayland running back and returner Javon Leake to the practice squad, while also placing former starting left tackle Geron Christian on the injured reserve.

The news about Christian is potentially big for Washington, as it leaves their depth at the left tackle position extremely thin. Coming into this season, the team had Geron Christian, Saahdiq Charles, Cornelius Lucas and David Sharpe at that position. Now, with the first three players injured, Washington has been moving RT Morgan Moses over to the LT spot, while putting Sharpe at RT.

Lucas is not on the IR, but he got injured in last week’s game against the Lions and is uncertain to play this week against the Bengals.

The addition of Leake to the practice squad should be noted too, as the young RB and dynamic returner had a solid career at Maryland. In three years in college, he had a total of 17 touchdowns from scrimmage, and could hopefully be able to work his way up to the active roster in D.C. someday.

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Giants’ Joe Judge laments releasing players

New York Giants head coach Joe Judge has never had to release a player prior to this season and he’s not loving it.

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New York Giants head coach Joe Judge has never had to release a player before this season, but now he’s done it several times. It’s an unfortunate part of the business in the NFL and not a side of the job he particularly enjoys.

“That’s the unfortunate part of the business and that’s the reality for every coach and player in the NFL. It’s a not an easy thing to do. No one likes to sit there and tell a player that they are going have to move on from them on the roster at that point in time,” Judge told reporters on Monday. “It’s not a fun part of the job, it’s not something you enjoy. You try to give the player as much information as they can use going forward. Something they can improve on in their own game, something you felt was a strength of theirs that they can really make sure they keep strong and highlight going forward.

“As well, you remind the player it’s important to stay in shape, they have been in our system. We have familiarity with them. There is going to be a lot of movement in the early part of the year as well as throughout the year with both the 53 roster and the practice squad itself. You try to encourage the player on what they can do to improve themselves professionally as well as stay in shape and stay ready. Because when those phone calls happen, they happen fast.”

That’s precisely the advice Judge gave rookie running back Javon Leake upon his release last week — perhaps the most difficult roster decision the first-time head coach has made to date.

“With the way the rosters move throughout the year, every player we have here through camp, we express to them that however the roster moves, we’ll have all of them on a list as far as possibly being brought back for roster or practice squad spots when available,” Judge said at the time of Leake’s release. “He’s a guy that came in and worked his tail off for us. He made a lot of progress and I enjoyed coaching him.”

Things will get no easier for Judge when it comes to releasing players as NFL rosters must be trimmed to 53 men by 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.

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Giants’ Joe Judge explains decision to release Javon Leake

New York Giants head coach Joe Judge broke down the decision to release rookie RB Javon Leake and left the door open for a return.

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The New York Giants unexpectedly waived rookie running back Javon Leake over the weekend in an effort to clear room for two incoming defensive backs.

The decision to part ways with Leake ruffled some feathers among fans, who were not only unhappy with the decision, but took aim at team reporters for hyping up the 22-year-old.

Ultimately, the decision simply came down to the numbers.

With a desperate need for depth in their secondary and an abundance of talented running backs showing out this summer, the Giants had few other options.

First-year head coach Joe Judge explained exactly that on Sunday.

“We thought with the way we kind of had to look at some spots on our roster and addressing different positions with depth, this time of year, there’s a lot of movement on the roster. That’s kind of natural throughout the entire league,” Judge told reporters. “Look, he made a lot of progress for us. He did some good things, he did some good things the other night in the scrimmage.

“With the way the rosters move throughout the year, every player we have here through camp, we express to them that however the roster moves, we’ll have all of them on a list as far as possibly being brought back for roster or practice squad spots when available. He’s a guy that came in and worked his tail off for us. He made a lot of progress and I enjoyed coaching him.”

If Leake goes unclaimed or unsigned, it’s entirely possible the Giants bring him back as early as Sunday, September 6 when practice squads are established.

For now however, the Giants needed the room for more defensive backs and with Wayne Gallman having the camp of a lifetime, it was Leake who became expendable.

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Giants waive Javon Leake, add two defensive backs

The New York Giants have waived rookie running back Javon Leake on Saturday and signed two defensive backs.

The New York Giants, in search of low budget solutions to abut their decimated secondary, added two free agents to their convoluted mix of rookies and unproven young veterans.

The two players the Giants signed are KeiVarae Russell and Brandon Williams. Russell, 26, was a third-round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2016 out of Notre Dame. He could not master the Chiefs’ defensive scheme and was cut two weeks into the season. Russell then landed in Cincinnati for team seasons and then spent last season on the Los Angeles Chargers’ practice squad.

Williams, 27, was also a 2016 third-round selection. He was taken by the Arizona Cardinals and he also had a slow start to his career. He was waived/injured last August and has failed to catch on with an NFL team until now.

In order to make room on the roster, the Giants waived two rookie free agents – defensive back Christian Angulo and running back Javon Leake.

The release of Leake comes as a surprise since he has been praised by the coaches and his name has been bandied about for one of the return positions.

Leake, should he clear waivers, could end up back with the Giants on the practice squad or maybe even on the 53-man roster. It’s just they are desperate to get some bodies in the secondary after the loss of rookie safety Xavier McKinney (foot) this week.

Giants hold intrasquad scrimmage: 7 takeaways

The New York Giants held a sloppy intrasquad scrimmage on Friday night in the rain, and here are seven takeaways.

The New York Giants held their Blue-White scrimmage on Friday night at MetLife Stadium and were undeterred by occasional heavy rain.

In the end, the Blue team defeated the White team, 23-22.

Here are seven key takeaways from the scrimmage.

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

Offensive line struggled

The Giants feel confident they have sufficiently rebuilt their offensive line with a group of Dave Gettleman’s famed hog mollies. But if Friday night is any indication, there’s still a long way to go.

The entire first-team offensive line struggled, but more specifically, it was offensive tackles Andrew Thomas, the team’s first-round pick, and Cam Fleming who played poorly.

Both players were beaten for at least one sack, while the interior offensive line had a rough time opening lanes for running back Saquon Barkley & Co.

“The offensive line, to be honest with you, it’s live competition. We’re going out there, there’s some different tools we can use to help these guys in games. We chose to keep this a little bit vanilla tonight so it takes a little bit of tools you can use through game planning away from it. We have to see more improvement in the one on one matchups and how they handle it across the board,” head coach Joe Judge told reporters.

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Giants training camp: 3 undrafted free agents standing out

Undrafted free agents face an uphill battle in 2020 thanks to COVID-19, but these three are standing out in New York Giants training camp.

2020 is not going to be the year where scores of undrafted free agents make NFL rosters and go on to stardom. The coronavirus restrictions have basically shut down all of the avenues needed for these players to show there wares to coaches.

The New York Giants have several undrafted rookies in camp who will have to break through during practice sessions as there are no preseason games this summer for them to get a traditional audition.

Here are three UDFAs that could find themselves on the Giants’ roster come Week 1 against Pittsburgh.

Binjimen Victor
Photo credit: Giants.com

WR Binjimen Victor

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Binjimen Victor played all four seasons at Ohio State but went undrafted in this year’s deep wide receiver class. Is he likely a better prospect than many of the player who did get drafted? Yes, and the Giants are hoping that is the case.

“Victor got lost a bit amid the array of offensive talent at Ohio State, as did his teammate, Austin Mack, another rookie free-agent receiver and former Buckeye trying to make an impression,” writes New York Post reporter Paul Schwartz. “I could see Mack or Victor making a strong push to stay around, either on the roster or the expanded practice squad.”

Victor’s large frame will also help his chances as the Giants don’t really have a big target on the outside for Daniel Jones. Victor can also be used as a red zone option.

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Giants hold first intrasquad scrimmage: 9 takeaways

The New York Giants held their first intrasquad scrimmage on Friday and here are nine takeaways.

The New York Giants held their first intrasquad scrimmage on Friday and as expected, it was hard-hitting, fast-paced and physical — just the way head coach Joe Judge prefers it.

The offense started a little slow, but finished out the two-plus hour scrimmage on a high note. Meanwhile, the defense appeared stout against the run early, but struggled to generate a consistent pass rush.

Those are just two things to take away from Friday’s scrimmage, but here’s a more detailed look at nine more.

Daniel Jones
Photo credit: Giants.com

Daniel Jones is quietly improving

Daniel Jones took a few lumps early during Friday’s scrimmage, starting out a little rough and tossing an interception — something he has vowed to correct.

But it certainly wasn’t all bad. Jones rebounded after his shaky start and finished the day strong, completing 15 of his 26 passes for two touchdowns and the aforementioned interception.

“I was very pleased with the tone he sets in the huddle. He does it every day in practice. But he went out there today in a competitive situation and really stepped up,” head coach Joe Judge said. “He has good command situationally. He knows how to use some of the variety of calls and checks within our offense. I thought he really showed up a lot at the end of the scrimmage. That no-huddle situation we had right there, I was very pleased to see how he commanded the entire team and kept everyone moving through the situation.”

Truth be told, Jones has really only logged two bad passes this camp (from what the media has been able to see). Other than that, he’s been quietly solid all-around.

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2020 Giants training camp: Position battles to watch

As the New York Giants ready themselves for padded training camp practices, here are some key positional battles to watch.

Every summer brings NFL training camps and every training camp has their share of roster battles.

With a new coaching staff and a load of new faces to pit against some unproven old faces, the New York Giants’ camp will have quite a number of battles for key positions this year.

AP Photo/Roger Steinman

Offensive tackle

Nate Solder was going to have to prove that he was still left tackle timber this summer before he opted out for the season. So, left tackle was very much in play. Now, it’s their priority.

The Giants are hopeful that first round pick Andrew Thomas slides right in and starts from Day 1. That could still happen. He’ll have plenty of company, though. Third round pick Matt Peart will now be thrust into the mix for the left tackle spot as well.

Right tackle is even more wide open. The loser of the left tackle role will have to fend off veteran free agent Cam Fleming and the Giants’ everyman, Nick Gates. These are the two biggest question marks of the summer.

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