Weeks, not days.
That is the assessment of tight end Darren Waller, who is dealing with a new injury and will not be seen on the field for the Giants any time soon.
Waller left last week’s overtime loss to the Jets in the first quarter to a strained hamstring.
“We’ll take him day-by-day, but you never know how hamstrings are, so we’ll see where he’s at by the end of the week,” coach Brian Daboll said.
Forget about the day-by-day timeframe for Waller, who was supposed to be a pass-catching difference-maker after he was acquired from the Raiders for a third-round draft pick.
He has a history with this particular injury and it is not encouraging.
He played in only nine games last season with the Raiders with nagging and repeated hamstring issues.
“The main reason I missed eight games last year was because I was trying to come back in like two and reaggravating it two or three times in practice where nobody could really see it, so it’s like, ‘Where is this guy?’ ” Waller said Wednesday. “I’m taking a little bit more of an approach of, OK, if it’s four weeks, if it’s three weeks, if it’s whatever it is, use that time efficiently and not try to be a hero and come back. I got to take care of my body first.”
Last year, it was the left hamstring that Waller injured. This season, it is the right hamstring.
“Potentially, yeah,” Waller said of his missing weeks, not days. “The amount of weeks, not that sure. But yeah, it may take a little bit.”
Waller in eight games has a team-leading 36 receptions for 384 yards and one touchdown.
QB Tyrod Taylor is dealing with an injury to his rib cage and was seeing doctors on Wednesday.
Matt Barkley, signed to the practice squad on Tuesday, participated in his first practice with the Giants.
He is expected to remain on the practice squad at least for this week, with Tommy DeVito in the role as the backup to Daniel Jones for this Sunday’s game against the Raiders in Las Vegas after making his NFL debut last Sunday.
Barkley, 33, spent three years with Daboll in Buffalo.
The past two years, he was on the practice squad or spent time in training camp with the Titans, Panthers, Falcons and put in a second stint with the Bills.
“Matt has familiarity with what we do and understands our terminology,” Daboll said. “He’s been around, he’s been with us for a while, knows our stuff. We’ll see where Ty’s at and go from there.”
There is a chance the Giants get back their two starting offensive tackles for this game.
LT Andrew Thomas (hamstring) and RT Evan Neal (ankle) practiced on a limited basis, as they did last week.
Both players are further along this week and Daboll said both have “an opportunity” to play Sunday.
“Ankles are tricky,” Neal said. “They can get stiff, being a bigger man, just pounding on it can affect it as well.”
Neal, who has missed the past two games, said he feels “considerably’’ better this week than he did last week.
“Right now I feel pretty good,” he said.