Cutting Eli Apple would be the shock Giants haven’t made
The Giants did not make a bold move with the firing of Ben McAdoo. It was obvious it was going to happen the day after this season ended; they merely fast-forwarded the inevitable.
Considering their track record with general managers, any time they fire one of them it is big news. Still, parting ways with Jerry Reese was clearly on the docket as the season continued to slide away. Doing it the same day as McAdoo was unfortunate. Reese was in his 11th year as the general manager and 22nd year in the organization. His résumé includes two Super Bowl titles as the GM. That he was lumped in with McAdoo’s brief tenure was not the way it should have been.
Players were not shocked by these moves. They need to be shocked. You want bold? Cutting Eli Apple would be bold.
This is not a plea for this to happen. Apple is 22 years old and looks the part of a prototype big, athletic cornerback. He is a first-round draft pick, and that status almost always protects a player, often longer than such protection is warranted. With three games remaining in a 3-11 season, why make any drastic decisions? It is reasonable to expect the Giants will wait for the complete carnage and final indignities to officially stamp the season as over and done with before sifting through the rubble for salvageable scraps.
Still, this dance they are doing with Apple is getting silly. He looked bigger and stronger in the summer and seemed primed for a big second season. Instead, the Giants are wondering if he is a part of their plans. The coaching staff does not like his practice habits. He was benched — no matter what the Giants called the move — for the first three defensive series against the Chargers and afterward complained about the “culture’’ of the team as the real problem.
The Post learned Apple twice nearly walked out of the team facility after he was heavily criticized in a film session for two plays in particular in the loss to the 49ers. He missed the next two days of practice leading up to the Chiefs game, as his mother was about to undergo brain surgery, and was inactive not only for that game but also the Thanksgiving night game in Washington. The Post reported Apple was not in uniform against the Redskins because the Giants were concerned about his physical and mental state of being.
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Apple came up with hip and back issues and was not activated in Oakland. Apple said he was fine and ready to play but was again not activated to play against the Cowboys. Instead, he posted tweets during the game, a violation of NFL rules, retweeting an Ohio State fan site praising his former Buckeyes teammate , Rod Smith, for an 81-yard touchdown reception. When a follower asked why Apple was not playing, he tweeted back, “I’m too healthy.’’
Teammates have grown irritated at Apple’s behavior. The coaches and front office see him as immature. He has not been activated for four consecutive games. Spagnuolo said the reason for Apple not being in uniform to face the Cowboys was “because he just didn’t get enough reps during the week. I talked with him earlier. He’s going to be ready to go next week and hopefully we’re up and running.’’ Protecting a young player is one thing, but this has gone too far. How the Giants have handled Apple has not worked.
The Giants used Ross Cockrell and Brandon Dixon as starters at cornerback, and both played all 63 defensive snaps in the 30-10 loss to the Cowboys. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie played 25 snaps, and the roster is so depleted he had to be used for 19 snaps on special teams, not ideal for a 31-year-old. Darryl Morris, a 27-year-old who has kicked around in the NFL, played 21 snaps. It is not as if the Giants do not need Apple. Reese, the man who made Apple the 10th-overall pick in the 2016 draft, is no longer employed by the team. There are two paths here. Get Apple back on the field and give him a three-game audition to clean up his act, or stop treading so lightly and suspend him or release him to send a message.
More musings coming out of loss No. 11:
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— Steve Spagnuolo is a great guy, but let’s get real: This is not a four-game audition for him. Ownership is not thinking in that direction, and the next head coach will not come from inside the building. Spagnuolo will move on and land elsewhere, as there will be plenty of coaching changes and thus loads of new staffs in need of assembling. His body of work as a defensive coordinator is an interesting blend of high highs and low lows. This year’s injury-riddled unit is last in the NFL and unable to prevent big plays. He blamed himself for two blitz calls that swung open the gate for huge plays for the Cowboys.
Spagnuolo got the interim label and made some changes to the players’ schedule, but he is staying in his lane. He is not tinkering with the offense. He certainly did not go boldly into his first game trying to impress anyone with his verve. He was, in fact, too conservative, desperately trying to keep a close game as close as possible, which he did, for three quarters. Spagnuolo has one game down and three to go before this is all over with.
— Brandon Dixon might be the new face of the Giants. Well, not really, but he played all 63 snaps on defense against the Cowboys, and this is all anyone needs to know about the state of the Giants. Dixon, 27, is no kid. He was a sixth-round pick of the Jets in 2014 out of Northwest Missouri State but did not make the team. He’s kicked around with the Buccaneers, Seahawks, Colts, Patriots, Saints and Steelers before landing with the Giants in October. If someone wants to write a book about the life of a practice-squad player, Dixon could offer expert commentary.
He played in 14 games as a reserve for the Bucs in 2014 and none until the Giants signed him off their practice squad two weeks ago. He made his Giants debut and got his first NFL start last week in Oakland. He competed hard and looked as if he belonged. This week, he was assigned mostly to deal with Dez Bryant and made Bryant work, allowing only two receptions on four targets. The one that will be remembered, of course, is the 50-yard touchdown, with Bryant barely beating Dixon 8 yards down the field, securing the ball and then breaking free of Dixon to complete the catch-and-run scoring play. Overall, Dixon was targeted nine times in the game and allowed four catches for 66 yards and one touchdown, according to PFF. Take out the one big play against him and Dixon was more than credible.
This is what the Giants are working with now. Dixon was not in the league when the Giants signed him. Now he’s a starting cornerback for them.
“I’ll tell you what,’’ Spagnuolo said. “Brandon Dixon, to me, has played really good football. Now, he’s going to feel bad about the one play at the end of the half. But he’s battling out there. We got him late.’’
Speaking of Dixon and another late addition, Darryl Morris, Spagnuolo said: “Both those guys. They didn’t go through any OTAs, they didn’t go through any training camp and, yet, they’ve really been pros about everything and they compete. You can’t ask for much more than that.’’
Such is the state of the 2017 New York Giants.