The New York Giants’ run game welcomed in some reinforcements on Monday, waiving the injured linebacker Armbrister in the process.
The New York Giants made a pair of roster moves to open the week, adding running back Jhurell Pressley and waiving linebacker Thurston Armbrister with an injury designation. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport was the first to report the news.
Pressley, 26, entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of New Mexico in 2016. He has yet to partake in a regular season NFL game, but has seen preseason action with the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons. He has also spent time with the Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars, briefly appearing on the active roster of the former last season. His most notable NFL contribution was a 28-yard touchdown reception scored as a member of the Vikings in the 2016 preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams, part of a 27-25 Minnesota win.
In college at New Mexico, Pressley ran for 35 touchdowns and 2,275 yards, those marks respectively ranking second and eighth in Lobos history.
The welcoming of Pressley comes in the wake of injuries to rushers Saquon Barkley and Jalen Simmons. Barkley, the team’s first overall selection in April’s draft, has been sidelined since last Monday with a “mild strain” sustained practice, an injury that kept him out of last week’s visit to Detroit, which featured joint practices and a preseason game at Ford Field against the Lions. Simmons partook in both activities but was forced into concussion protocol after a hard tackle in the third quarter of the game, a 30-17 Giants win. In an effort to curb the work on veteran addition Jonathan Stewart, the Giants primarily used Wayne Gallman and undrafted rookie Robert Martin in their first practice back from Detroit yesterday, while also using fullback Shane Smith and receiver Kalif Raymond.
Meanwhile, Armbrister has been out since the early stages of training camp, working on a hamstring issue. He signed a futures contract with the Giants in January, spending his first three seasons with Jacksonville and Detroit. The linebacker has tallied 38 tackles in 30 games, though he has not played a regular season snap since 2016.
If Armbrister clears waivers, he will be listed on the Giants’ injured reserve, where he would potentially get an injury settlement that would allow him to purse outside opportunities.
The Giants return to preseason action on Friday night against the New York Jets (7:30 pm ET, WCBS).
