There is no in-case-of-emergency plan in place this week for Micah McFadden.
The Giants left McFadden off the injury report last week and dressed him for the season opener but chose to use an abundance of caution and bench their top inside linebacker complement to workhorse Bobby Okereke.
He had been dealing with a groin injury since Aug. 17.
It was a long-term play with the rest of the schedule — beginning Sunday against the Commanders — in mind.
“Feeling more confident getting back into pads [Wednesday] and running around getting full reps [Thursday],” McFadden said. “I feel ready to go.”
Rookie sixth-round pick Darius Muasau stepped into McFadden’s spot and recorded six tackles (one for loss) and an interception.
Muasau played well enough that the plan to break glass on McFadden and use him for a capped number of snaps was not necessary.
“I’m rolling with the punches,” said McFadden, who missed time in training camp with an unrelated injury before he was carted off in the second preseason game.
“Fortunately, I’ve had a good recovery so far. When the injury first happened, they were talking about Week 2 or Week 3. I started feeling good about mid-last week.”
McFadden played 737 defensive snaps across 16 games (14 starts) last season.
Defensive coordinator Shane Bowen mentioned CB Tre Hawkins as a possibility when asked how he fills the second outside cornerback spot with Week 1 starter Nick McCloud (knee) banged up.
It was interesting considering that Hawkins was inactive Week 1.
The other options are Cor’Dale Flott — who played a lot in the slot Week 1 after spending his camp on the outside — and recently re-signed three-year starter Adoree’ Jackson.
Hawkins made three starts as a rookie last season but was benched by November.
Go behind the scenes with Big Blue
Sign up for Inside the Giants by Paul Schwartz, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.
Thank you
“He’s been working with us,” Bowen said. “He kind of played that role last year a little bit.”
Special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial said the Giants downed a punt at the 1-yard line in last Friday’s practice before replicating it in the game with four players passing the ball at the goal line like a hot potato.
It started with punter Jamie Gillan’s placement.
“I do think he had a really good game for us,” Ghobrial said. “When you have a punt-coverage unit that nets 46.2, that’s going to put you in the top of the league.”
