5 Decisions the NY Giants Should Make During the Bye Week

For most of the New York Giants players, the upcoming bye week will allow them to get out of town to unwind a bit and clear their minds following two hard losses to division opponents.

Meanwhile back at the team’s headquarters, head coach Tom Coughlin, general manager Jerry Reese and the assistant coaches have some soul-searching to do regarding how to make this team more competitive, especially with a grueling four-game slate of opponents (Indianapolis Colts, Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys) awaiting them when they return to work next Monday.

While the Giants brass figure out where to go from here, here is a look at five decisions that make the most sense to use as a starting point to return the Giants to being a more competitive ballclub. 

Place LB Jon Beason on Injured Reserve

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Jon Beason is probably one of the most dedicated and passionate football players on the Giants.

The problem is that Beason is not currently healthy, thanks to a lingering toe issue, and that injury has repeatedly got in the way of him practicing and contributing in games.

While he worked diligently to return from the injury first suffered on June 12 during an OTA practice in time for opening day, Beason soon realized that working on the less-forgiving artificial turf that lines the majority of the venues at which the Giants play their games was going to be a problem for his healing toe.

Two weeks ago, an excited Beason, who had missed three games after aggravating the injury during a Week 2 contest against the Arizona Cardinals, told reporters that he had finally come up with a shoe that he believed would provide dual support and protection for his foot on both turf and on grass.

He made it through last week’s game at Philadelphia, which is played on a hybrid grass-artificial turf surface.

Unfortunately, he didn’t make it through the Dallas game the following week, leaving in the second quarter and not returning.

There comes a time when a team has to protect a player from himself, and the Giants appear to have reached that point with Beason.

Head coach Tom Coughlin told reporters during his Monday press conference that Beason would consult once again with noted foot and ankle specialist Dr. Robert Anderson over the bye week to explore his options.

When asked if there was a chance that Beason might be shut down for the remainder of the season, Coughlin said, “That wasn’t what they talked about the first time, so I would say we will have to wait and see on that.”

They shouldn’t wait. Beason has tried to come back from the injury twice with no success.

He told reporters earlier this month that he has tried more shoe combinations than he cared to admit.

In addition, his constant yearning for the more forgiving grass surface isn’t going to change the fact that the Giants venues are set for the year and that soon the team will have to move practices indoors to its fieldhouse, which is also lined with artificial turf. 

For the sake of the player, the Giants need to shut Beason down so he can get that toe fixed. New York can get by with Jameel McClain in the middle and with Devon Kennard, who would benefit by gaining valuable live reps.

There is no need for Beason to risk suffering further damage to his toe or other parts of his body that might be at risk due to any compensation or change in his gait.

If he is in the team’s plans in 2015, it's better to have him at 100 percent than to have him miss chunks of time and to have New York holding its breath that he makes it through a game played on artificial turf.

By shutting Beason down now, he should have plenty of time to get that toe right so that he can commence his offseason training, which he told me he starts every year on Valentine’s Day on schedule.

Get DE Damontre Moore More Snaps

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Second-year defensive end Damontre Moore has played in 115 defensive snaps, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

In looking further at those snaps, the most that Moore has received in any game was 21, that coming against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5.

If the Giants want to supercharge their pass rush, Moore needs to be put into the game more than just the 24.6 percent of the snaps he is currently averaging.

Statistically, Moore has done well with his limited defensive snaps, recording 12 tackles, 2.0 sacks, six quarterback hits and one tackle for a loss.

So why isn’t he getting more opportunities to contribute?

“It is the style of the game if we use him more,” defensive coordinator Perry Fewell told reporters two weeks ago. “I think his snap count is around 20-25 plays per game right now. It is the style the opponent plays with that allows us to use him to the best of his ability.”

With all due respect to Fewell, the style of the game and/or the opponent shouldn’t matter. At the end of the day, football is all about beating the man across from you mano a mano.

If you have a talent that you ultimately want to be a bigger part of your defensive rotation and he has shown an ability to make plays, you find a way to get him out on the field. 

Give S Nat Berhe More Snaps on Defense

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During training camp, safeties coach David Merritt shared a moniker that the coaching staff had come up with for safety Nat Berhe, one of the team’s two fifth-round draft picks this year.

“We called him ‘The Missile,’” Merritt told reporters. “That's going to be his new nickname because he is going to go in there like a missile.”

Merritt was referring to the rookie’s ability to sniff out the ball during the preseason and blow up the ball-carrier to minimize yardage.

While Berhe, who played his college ball at San Diego State, wasn’t expected to make an immediate contribution on defense despite a solid preseason showing, he is now almost halfway into the season.

The Giants have had some performance issues at safety. Starter Stevie Brown, in his first season back from ACL surgery, was benched after struggling in coverage because, as he told reporters last week, “I just wasn’t playing the smartest football.”

His replacement, Quintin Demps, hasn’t exactly set the world on fire either.

Per Pro Football Focus, Demps has received negative grades in pass coverage in each of his last two games after allowing 100 percent of the balls thrown at him to be completed for 70 yards and two touchdowns.

The Giants do not allow the media to watch the team part of practice during the season, so it is difficult to gauge exactly where he is in terms of the progress made since the preseason, when practices were open to viewing in their entirety.

It’s also hard to gauge the rookie's progress in the 23 defensive snaps he has received this season, the last of which came in Week 3 against the Houston Texans, per PFF.

At this point, it appears that neither Brown nor Demps, both of whom signed one-year deals with the Giants in the offseason, is the long-term answer at safety.

There is also no guarantee Antrel Rolle, who’s in the final year of his contract, will be back next season.

If Berhe, who is under contract next year, has made significant progress in his understanding of drops and angles, then why not see what the kid brings to the table?

Bench RG John Jerry

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If the Giants want to get their running game going anytime soon, it might behoove them to consider returning their current starting right guard, John Jerry, to a reserve role just as soon as Geoff Schwartz is healthy and ready to go.

While head coach Tom Coughlin told reporters a couple of weeks ago that “continuity is the key ingredient” as far as the offensive line goes, if the players are interchangeable as the coaches would like to have those of us outside of the organization’s walls believe, upgrading an area that has hasn't performed well shouldn’t be given a second thought.

Per Pro Football Focus, Jerry’s minus-4.6 run-blocking grade is the worst on the offense right now.

In my breakdown of the offensive line problems against the Philadelphia Eagles, I noted that Jerry’s run blocking has lacked any kind of consistent punch.

Specifically, instead of legally latching onto his man and driving him out of the way, Jerry oftentimes looks as though he is trying to finesse his man out of the picture.

Jerry still has value to the team as a reserve offensive lineman—that he can play both guard and tackle is big.

However, once Schwartz—who on Monday told reporters that he hopes to start practicing next week when the Giants return from their bye week—is healthy, he should go back into the starting lineup at right guard—not left guard, where he was originally slated to play prior to suffering a dislocated toe in the preseason. 

Remove DE Mathias Kiwanuka from the Starting Lineup

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Defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka is one of three Giants players remaining on the roster who has been with the team for both of its Super Bowl championship seasons.

A No. 1 pick in 2006 out of Boston College, Kiwanuka has been the model locker room citizen, sacrificing his personal stats (and potential payday) by moving from his native defensive end position to outside linebacker before finally moving back to defensive end for good last season.

Maybe it was the shuffling around or maybe it is the fact that the years have started to take their toll on this one-time talent.

Whatever the case, Kiwanuka, who moves into the starting lineup by default this year following Justin Tuck’s departure via free agency, has not been very productive for him or the team.

Kiwanuka consistently finished with negative overall grades from Pro Football Focus every week except for three games.  

His minus-31.5 overall grade landed him 14 out of 14 ranked 4-3 defensive ends who took 75 percent or more of their team’s defensive snaps.

This year, he hasn’t been much better.  

Kiwanuka, who struggles to shed solo blocking, is currently ranked 15th out of 17 4-3 defensive ends who have taken 75 percent of more of their team’s defensive snaps.

Kiwanuka rarely draws double-team blocks, the opponent instead usually doubling up Jason Pierre-Paul on the other side.

He fights the good fight but struggles to shed solo blocks, as he did this past week when he went against backup Dallas offensive tackle Jermey Parnell.

Kiwanuka still has value to the team as a rotation defensive lineman, but it is a mystery as to why he continues to start when Robert Ayers Jr. has done more with fewer snaps.

Advanced statistics courtesy of Pro Football Focus (subscription required) unless otherwise noted.

All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise sourced. Follow me on Twitter @Patricia_Traina.