Notebook: Regular season comes into focus across NFL

*Daboll had no updates on six of the seven players who were injured last night, notably offensive linemen John Michael Schmitz and Evan Neal. Well, no official medical updates.

“I saw John Michael right before I came in here,” Daboll said. “He was in the meal room. He’s in good spirits. Don’t want you to give you information that… I want to make sure it’s right from what I get from the doctors and trainers. But he’s walking around fine. “

Daboll had yet to see Neal when he spoke to the media.

*Several players who have missed practice time with injuries should return this week, including quarterback Drew Lock, guard Jon Runyan, linebacker Carter Coughlin, cornerback Cor’Dale Flott, and rookie cornerback Dru Phillips.

Lock, signed to be Jones’ primary backup, has not taken any team reps since suffering an oblique injury against Detroit on Aug. 8.

“He actually wanted to do some stuff last week to see how it felt, and he really pushed the envelope to be out there,” Daboll said. “He’s a tough young man. And then we backed off a bit based on how he felt. But I think he’s feeling better. So, we’ll see where we’re at this week.”

“They’ll be doing more than they did last week or in Runyan’s case, doing something with the guys that were out,” Daboll said

*The Giants began the process of reducing their roster to the 53-man regular-season limit by releasing 12 players. The group includes one former draft choice, offensive lineman Marcus McKethan, a fifth-round selection in 2022.

Running back Joshua Kelley, cornerbacks Breon Borders and Christian Holmes, and defensive tackle Timmy Horne were the other players among those cut with NFL experience. Kelley was signed 10 days ago after spending four seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers. Borders joined the team on July 28 after stints with 11 teams. Holmes spent two seasons in Washington before he was awarded off waivers to the Giants on Aug. 5.

Horne and safety Jonathan Sutherland were waived/injured. Horne suffered a torn Achilles tendon on the first play from scrimmage last night. He played in one game for the Giants last season.

The other players who were waived are wide receiver Ayir Asante, defensive tackle Kyler Baugh, safety Clayton Isbell, wide receiver John Jiles, linebacker Trey Kiser and running back Lorenzo Lingard.

The moves leave the Giants with 78 players, plus kicker Jude McAtamney, who gets an international exemption. They must reduce their roster by 25 more players by 4 p.m. Tuesday.

*Allen Robinson was by far the most experienced Giants player to participate in the game last night. He has played in 130 regular season and postseason games and caught a combined 580 passes. Robinson, who turned 31 yesterday, signed with the Giants on May 9, two months after he was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers, for whom he started all 17 games in 2023.

With several talented receivers much younger than him on the roster, Robinson must sweat out cutdown day like a rookie free agent.

“Whatever, whatever is gonna happen is gonna happen,” Robinson said. “If you had asked me a few weeks ago how I approach it, I would have said, ‘Put together good days in training camp, you know, be consistent, and so on and so forth.’ At this stage of the game, whatever is meant to be is meant to be.”

Two players who could be competing for one roster spot – Robinson and Isaiah Hodgins – were the Giants’ starting receivers against the Jets. Robinson caught one pass for four yards and ran once for 10 more and a first down. He had three receptions for 23 yards in the three-game preseason. He’ll soon learn if that’s enough to claim a roster spot.

“What happens is out of my control,” he said. “I feel like I’ve controlled everything that I could up until this point as far as the physical aspect of it going out there each and every day competing in practice, getting better, making plays, being consistent.

“For me, it just was about going out there, as cliche as it may sound, and getting better, being better. I felt like I was able to do that.”

*The Giants finished 1-2 in the preseason for the second straight year.