On the bright side of a dark 31-13 loss to the Packers, the Giants on Sunday made a seamless transition at long snapper, with Zak DeOssie put on injured reserve this past week and Colin Holba handling those duties without any issues.
Holba, 25, appeared in 13 games the past three years for the 49ers and Jaguars, and in his Giants debut, despite rain and snow, successfully executed two snaps on Aldrick Rosas field goals and one on Riley Dixon’s lone punt.
DeOssie has been with the Giants since 2007, and his run of 13 years as the long snapper appears at an end.
“I’m just trying to do whatever job they present me with the best I can,” Holba said. “Zak’s a legend. Having him in the building was a huge help for me, the transition and stuff like that. I try to do just what I can do, but, yeah, he was one of the best. I looked up to him when I was growing up, snapping. They say never meet your heroes, but meeting him was pretty awesome.’’
Aaron Rodgers threw four touchdown passes and said he knew early in the game the weather conditions would work in his favor.
“I was a little worried it might be more rain than snow,’’ Rodgers said, “but when those big flakes were falling down, I felt pretty good about our chances.’’
Daniel Jones has 21 turnovers in his rookie season, adding three interceptions against the Packers to his penchant for losing the ball on fumbles. Jones did not lose a fumble and so his total stuck at 10. Coach Pat Shurmur said he is not concerned about the way Jones is progressing.
“These were throws. These weren’t fumbles,’’ Shurmur said. “He’s got to keep playing through it and keep learning from every scenario.’’
Rookie CB Corey Ballentine was forced out in the third quarter because of a concussion. It is the second concussion of the season for Ballentine. He missed games in Weeks 7 and 8 while in the concussion protocol. … RB Buck Allen got his first snap on offense for the Giants and picked up a blitz in the first quarter, allowing Jones to hit Sterling Shepard on an 18-yard touchdown pass. Allen on the next series got his first rushing attempt since signing Oct. 11. … WR Da’Mari Scott, signed this week off the practice squad, started as the Giants opened up with three receivers on the field.
In a particularly ugly defense moment, the Giants, despite having 12 men on the field, were beaten by Rodgers on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams, as Rodgers hurried the offense to the line and ran the play.
“That’s one of the things Aaron Rodgers is good at in his career,” S Antoine Bethea said. “If they’re not subbing then we can’t sub. Obviously he caught us trying to sub.”
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