New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh declined Wednesday to say which players will take the field Friday night against the New York Jets in the preseason finale at MetLife Stadium.
“I think I’m going to stand consistently with the procedure that we’ve been following all through training camp and just leave it up in the air right now,” Harbaugh told reporters. “We’ll see where we’re at. There would be things to be gained for those guys to play defensively as well from a communication standpoint. But there’s risk. It’s just a balancing act of what we gain the most from with the least amount of risk. That’s what we’ve got to figure out.”
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, with roster cuts due Sunday. The Giants open the regular season Sept.
13 at home against the Dallas Cowboys.
Asked how he weighs a possible stretch of nearly a month without a game for players who last appeared in the Aug. 15 opener, Harbaugh said the gap is the core issue.
“Well, that’s a big factor. I think that’s exactly right. I mean, that is the factor,” he said. “That’s the thing that – I don’t know if concern is the right word because a lot of teams do it, but you haven’t played in a game, now we’re going to go play in a game under the lights, high stakes, it’s going to be loud. All those things are going to factor in and they haven’t been out there in that setting for a while. And the setting they were in isn’t anything like the one they’re going to be in either. So, that, to me, is your point. It’s exactly right. That is the factor.”
Pressed on whether new schemes change the calculation, Harbaugh agreed that the install is part of the decision.
“Yeah, that’s part of it, too. I agree with you. That’s what we’ve got to figure out and decide," he said.
Harbaugh has followed the same approach throughout camp, keeping playing-time plans private until game day as the staff weighs rust, communication, and injury risk before the Dallas Cowboys.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: New York Giants' John Harbaugh noncommittal on who will play vs. Jets
