Giants-Vikings, Week 1 storylines: 5 things to watch this week

The 2024 NFL season is here! The New York Giants open their regular season on Sunday at MetLife Stadium against the Minnesota Vikings with a 1 p.m. kickoff.

The day will feature the culmination of the franchise’s celebration of its 100th season of NFL competition. The Giants will wear their specially-designed 100th-year throwback uniforms and honor the top 100 players in franchise history as voted by a panel of experts.

Let’s look at some of the storylines for this week.

A fast start is a must

In Brian Daboll’s first season as head coach, the Giants began the year 7-2 and made the playoffs. In his second, the Giants staggered to a 2-8 record and finished 6-11. The Giants need a quick start to the 2024 season to avoid having a second straight season filled with meaningless games.

The schedule, with winnable games at home against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1 and on the road vs. the Washington Commanders in Week 2, offers them an opportunity to get off to a good start.

That is followed by this difficult six-game stretch:

Week 3 at Cleveland Browns
Week 4 vs. Dallas Cowboys
Week 5 at Seattle Seahawks
Week 6 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Week 7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Week 8 at Pittsburgh Steelers

I wrote on Sunday about the Giants needing to be better this season, and took the view that there were signs they could be. Those signs need to show up immediately, though, or there is potential for an ugly first half of the season.

Adoree’s status

Adoree’ Jackson’s first practice since signing with the Giants over the weekend was on Monday. How much the veteran cornerback might be able to play vs. the Vikings is unknown.

“We’ve got to get him out here and ramp him up and see where he’s at,” Daboll said. “We’ll take it day by day, see where he’s at and how much to play him, how much not to play him.”

The starting job was Jackson’s a year ago. Cor’Dale Flott and Nick McCloud have been the primary competitors for that job this summer without Jackson in camp.

We might see all three in that spot on Sunday.

Injury updates

Daboll would not provide any injury information on Monday, saying that would wait until the team had to produce an injury report on Wednesday. That, though, doesn’t mean we can’t speculate about a couple of key injuries.

Gunner Olszewski — The punt returner suffered a groin injury in mid-August that was expected to sideline for up to four weeks. Somewhere along the way that began being reported as an ankle injury, but whatever. Olszewski was reportedly still moving gingerly while catching punts during practice last week. His status for Sunday has to be considered up in the air.

Who returns punts if Olszewski can’t? Adoree’ Jackson? Daboll didn’t rule that out on Monday, though it seems unlikely the Giants would add that to his plate as he ramps up after not practicing all summer. Somebody who isn’t on the roster right now? Does Olszewski go to IR if he isn’t ready?

Micah McFadden — The starting linebacker injured a hip in a preseason game against the Houston Texans. Will he be ready?

Drew Lock — The No. 2 quarterback injured a hip and suffered a strained oblique in the preseason-opening game against the Detroit Lions. He did not play in the remaining two preseason games and has done little in practice. Has Lock progressed enough to be the backup for Daniel Jones on Sunday?

Come together right now, OL!

The Giants’ starting offensive line did not practice together in the positions they will play this Sunday until the middle of last week. The Giants have to hope that the veteran nature of the line, with only second-year center John Michael Schmitz being a younger player, will help the group deal with a less-than-ideal circumstance.

“Those players have, when they’ve practiced, they’ve all practiced well, albeit not all together, but they’ve all practiced well,” Daboll said. “They’ve come in, they’ve worked hard, they’re smart, they communicate with one another well. The last couple of practices we had here before the break, it was good to get them all out there.

“So, do everything you can do. That’s just not them, that’s everybody, to be as ready as you can go for Week 1.”

The scenario isn’t perfect, but it is better than it was a season ago. At that time the Giants did not even know at the end of the preseason which players they wanted to use on the line. This year, they have known for a while but injuries have prevented them from practicing as a unit.

Another chance for Sam

Former New York Jets No. 3 overall pick Sam Darnold has not been a full-time starter since losing his starting gig with the Carolina Panthers in the middle of the 2021 season. With rookie J.J. McCarthy on season-ending IR because of a torn meniscus, Darnold has that chance this season.

He begins trying to prove that he is a starting-caliber quarterback Sunday at MetLife Stadium, where he flopped with the Jets.

Daboll scouted Darnold extensively in 2018 when he was with the Buffalo Bills and the team drafted Josh Allen.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for Sam,” Daboll said. “I know he’s been to four different places, but he’s an athletic quarterback that has a good head on his shoulders, knows where to go with the football. He’s surrounded by some really good players at Minnesota and experience helps at any position. But I’ve always been a big fan of Sam, and he’s got a good team around him, a good play-caller, and it’ll be certainly a challenge.”