Despite being listed on the injury report late in the week, tight end Darren Waller made his Giants debut Sunday night against the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium.
There was never really a significant danger of Waller missing the game. But when he showed up Friday on the injury report, listed as questionable with a hamstring issue, the alarm and concern about his availability was understandable, given his recent history.
Waller played in only 11 games for the Raiders in 2021 and made it into only nine games in 2022, with lingering hamstring strains in both legs severely limiting his availability and production — a big reason why the Giants were able to get him in a trade for a third round draft pick.
The Giants were careful and cautious with Waller throughout the spring and summer, monitoring his workload.
It was all systems go for the pass-catching tight end, but sometime after last Wednesday’s practice he reported feeling tightness in a hamstring.
The Giants did not practice on Thursday and on Friday he did what was asked of him on the field, with the Giants limiting his physical exertion that day to make sure the tightness did not turn into something worse.
Waller established himself as one of the NFL’s best tight ends when he amassed 197 receptions for 2,341 yards and 11 touchdowns in a two-year (2019-20) span.
The Giants expect him to be the focal point of their passing attack.
They will be extra careful to keep him healthy and on the field and if that means limiting his snaps in his first game to make sure the hamstring does not act up, that will be the approach in his nationally-televised and highly anticipated Giants debut.
“I think these games are dope,’’ Waller said. “When I was in Vegas we had a prime-time game pretty early, we played the Saints and then we played the Ravens the following year so just having those games out of the gate, it’s exciting.
“Those are the kind of environments that you want to play in, you know everybody’s watching and playing against a really good team. I feel like it’s going to bring the best out of you pretty early on.’’