EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Injuries continue to force the Giants to tinker with their roster as they prepare for their season finale.
The team today placed linebacker J.T. Thomas and long-snapper Danny Aiken on injured reserve. Thomas has an ankle injury. Aiken injured his thumb in practice yesterday.
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The Giants now have 21 players on injured reserve, including two long-snappers.
To fill the openings on their roster, the Giants signed linebacker Nico Johnson from the practice squad and long-snapper Tyler Ott, who are eligible to make their Giants' debuts Sunday at home vs. Philadelphia.
Johnson, 6-2 and 255 pounds, was signed to the practice squad on Nov. 10. He has played in 18 regular-season games with three starts for Kansas City and Cincinnati. His career totals include 18 tackles (12 solo).
Johnson entered the NFL as the Chiefs' fourth-round draft choice, No.99 overall, in 2013 from Alabama. That season, he played in seven games with one start and had seven tackles (five solo).
Johnson was waived by Kansas City on Aug. 30, 2014 and signed two days later to the Chiefs' practice squad. On Oct. 15, 2014, he was signed to the Cincinnati Bengals' active roster. Johnson played in 11 games with two starts and had 11 tackles (seven solo) for Cincinnati. He was waived by the Bengals on Aug. 31 this year and signed to the Washington Redskins' practice squad on Sept. 25. He was released on Oct. 20, and joined the Giants three weeks later.
Ott, 6-3 and 247 pounds, is the first player in Giants history from Harvard.
He played in three preseason games last summer for the St. Louis Rams. Prior to that, Ott was twice with the New England Patriots, from May 16-Aug. 19, 2014, and March 4-May 5, 2015.
Thomas joined the Giants as a free agent on March 12. This season, he played in 12 games with 11 starts. Thomas missed the games vs. New Orleans, Tampa Bay and New England from Nov. 1-15 with an ankle injury. He finished the season with 44 tackles (28 solo) and three special teams tackles.
Aiken was signed by the Giants on Dec. 8, when Zak DeOssie, their snapper for nine seasons, was placed on injured reserve with a wrist injury. Aiken played in the last three games, a victory at Miami and losses to Carolina and Minnesota.
He previously played four seasons for New England.
*Four players on the active roster did not practice today: Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul (ankle), and safeties Craig Dahl and Cooper Taylor and tackle Marshall Newhouse, all with concussions.
Wide receiver Dwayne Harris was limited with back and shoulder injuries.
*The Elias Sports Bureau has made a scoring change, awarding Robert Ayers a full sack on what was originally a split sack with Thomas in the Carolina game. The change increased Ayer's game total to 2.0 sacks, and lifts his team and career-high total this season to 8.5.
Keep an eye on these five players as the Giants face the Eagles on Sunday
WR ODELL BECKHAM JR. The standout wide receiver returns from a one-game suspension imposed by the NFL for his actions in the Carolina game two weeks ago. With 91 receptions for 1,396 yards and 13 touchdowns, Beckham is looking to become just the second player in Giants history to record 100 catches in a single season (Steve Smith had 107 in 2009). He is also 26 yards away from surpassing Randy Moss (2,726) for most receiving yards in a player's first two seasons. Additionally, Beckham needs one touchdown for most in a season by a Giant (tied with Homer Jones) and 141 yards to break Victor Cruz's single-season franchise record of 1,536. "Actually, there's a lot that's been going on and I'm really just happy to be back," Beckham said when asked about the records. "I really haven't thought about much besides Philly."
![QB ELI MANNING
The franchise quarterback is at a point in his career where he's either surpassing a Hall of Famer on an all-time list or is about to in every game. And the season finale is no different. Manning needs 16 completions to surpass Fran Tarkenton (3,686) for 10th place on the career completions list and three touchdowns to tie Y.A. Tittle's single-season franchise record of 36, which he set in 1963. But first and foremost, Manning wants to end the season on a high note with a victory.
"Obviously, you're disappointed [in not making the playoffs], but kind of have that last memory to be something to be proud of," Manning said. "All you can do is handle the circumstances that you're in. This is our circumstance, so try to make the best of it and get a win."](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/private/t_new_photo_album_2x/t_lazy/f_auto/giants/xe0h8u07lqdy9lwhblzu.jpg)
QB ELI MANNING The franchise quarterback is at a point in his career where he's either surpassing a Hall of Famer on an all-time list or is about to in every game. And the season finale is no different. Manning needs 16 completions to surpass Fran Tarkenton (3,686) for 10th place on the career completions list and three touchdowns to tie Y.A. Tittle's single-season franchise record of 36, which he set in 1963. But first and foremost, Manning wants to end the season on a high note with a victory. "Obviously, you're disappointed [in not making the playoffs], but kind of have that last memory to be something to be proud of," Manning said. "All you can do is handle the circumstances that you're in. This is our circumstance, so try to make the best of it and get a win."
DE ROBERT AYERS JR. With 1.5 sacks of Minnesota's Teddy Bridgewater last week, Ayers has recorded at least one sack -- 6.5 total -- in the last four games. As he approaches double digits with a team-high 8.5 on the season, the seventh-year pro has already broken his personal best of 5.5, which he had in 2013 with the Broncos.
RB RASHAD JENNINGS Time of possession has been a key to success for the Giants this season, and that is especially true when facing the fast-paced Eagles. The Giants are 5-0 when controlling the ball for at least 30 minutes. The best way to do so is with a strong running game, which Rashad Jennings has shown down the stretch. Jennings has run for 262 yards in the last three games after having just 431 in the first 12.
DE JASON PIERRE-PAUL While he deals with an ankle injury this week, Pierre-Paul is showing "signs" of shifting his game into gear, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said. In seven games back from suffering serious hand injuries in a July 4 fireworks accident, Pierre-Paul has 20 tackles, seven quarterback hits, four tackles for loss, four passes defensed, two fumble recoveries and a sack. "We've all talked about it, it took a while to kind of get in gear," Spagnuolo said. "I think you see signs of that. I think he would probably tell you he'd like to consistently do that a little bit more. I'm not one to speak for him, but it can't be all that easy when you're playing with a club on your hand."
