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<\/p>\nWill New York Giants right tackle Evan Neal play again in 2023? It\u2019s beginning to become a real concern that he won\u2019t after the latest injury update in Week 16.<\/p>\n
WFAN\u2019s Paul Dottino relayed that Neal is \u201cstill in limbo\u201d after head coach Brian Daboll\u2019s press conference on December 20. \u201cDoing everything he can do,\u201d the Giants HC added vaguely on the subject.<\/p>\n
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The 2022 first-round selection has not taken the field since Week 9 versus the Las Vegas Raiders, where he appeared to reaggravate an ankle issue that caused him to miss both Weeks 7 and 8. In total, Neal has already missed seven outings this year, and he appears to be trending towards absence number eight against the Philadelphia Eagles.<\/p>\n
This comes on the heels of a poor start to his NFL career and an ill-advised fight with the fanbase in early October.<\/p>\n
Needless to say, if Neal doesn\u2019t turn his NYG tenure around soon, he\u2019ll end up going down as one of the biggest first-round busts in franchise history. No matter what happens over the final few weeks, year three will be huge for the former Alabama O-tackle.<\/p>\n
Giants Open Practice Window for OT Matt Peart & RB Gary Brightwell to Return From IR<\/strong> \u201cWe\u2019ll open the [practice] window for Brightwell [and] open the window for Peart,\u201d the head coach noted on December 20.<\/p>\n That means the Giants will have 21 days to decide on whether or not they\u2019d like to activate either player off of the injured reserve. Peart was initially placed on IR with a shoulder injury, while Brightwell has been dealing with a hamstring ailment.<\/p>\n Both were recent draft picks of the previous regime, which typically decreases a player\u2019s likelihood of sticking around long-term. Peart will hit the open market first, having been drafted in 2020. The former third-round blocker is not expected to return in 2024.<\/p>\n As for Brightwell, the RB\/returner has appeared in seven games this season. Over that span, he\u2019s rushed the ball 9 times for 19 yards and caught 5-of-7 targets for 47 yards. Brightwell also has a kick return average of 21.3 yards.<\/p>\n Giants HC Brian Daboll Would Not Commit to Starting Evan Neal Once Healthy<\/strong> \u201cWe\u2019ll see. Cross that bridge when we get to it,\u201d Daboll told reporters ahead of Week 15 when asked if Neal would immediately step back into the right tackle role once he\u2019s healthy.<\/p>\n He also voiced that veteran replacement Tyre Phillips has \u201cdone a nice job.\u201d Of course, that statement was made before the Giants were defeated by the New Orleans Saints.<\/p>\n At the time, playoff hopes were still alive. Now the team is virtually eliminated from contention \u2014 NFL.com gives Big Blue a \u201c<1%\u201d probability of making the postseason entering Week 16.<\/p>\n That shift could impact Daboll\u2019s decision, assuming Neal is ever healthy enough to play. Unless the Giants are already certain they\u2019ll be moving on from the 2022 first rounder over the offseason, the assumption is that he\u2019d play with no real shot at the playoffs.<\/p>\n Phillips has done a nice job, but he\u2019s probably more of a swing tackle than a long-term answer. Plus, you need to see what you have in Neal. Can the high-end prospect still develop? Or are his days already numbered in New York?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Will New York Giants right tackle Evan Neal play again in 2023? It\u2019s beginning to become a real concern that he won\u2019t after the latest injury update… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nNeal\u2019s injury update wasn\u2019t great, but Daboll did have some positive news on offensive tackle Matt Peart and running back Gary Brightwell.<\/p>\n
\nEven if Neal returns in 2023, he may not be handed the starting job right away.<\/p>\n