New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur doesn’t plan on sitting any starters for Big Blue’s meaningless Week 17 game vs. the Cowboys.
Looks like the New York Giants will be treating this meaningless game like any old regular season game after all.
On Wednesday, Giants head coach Pat Shurmur addressed to the media one of the big questions this week: do you play or sit the starters this week. This upcoming Week 17 matchup against the NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys is meaningless for the Giants.
They’re out of playoff contention and not playing for a winning season with a current record of 5-10. Jobs are safe within the organization as well, as Shurmur and GM Dave Gettleman are still in their first full seasons of being on the Big Blue staff.
As far as the looming question, it seems Shurmur doesn’t want to sit anybody. He essentially wants to treat this game like any other regular season game.
“I expect [Dallas] to come in and try to win a football game. That’s what I expect,” Shurmur said, per George Willis of the New York Post. We’re going to try to do the same; try to beat them at their best and finish on a good note.”
One of the backup players that many believe should get some action is rookie quarterback Kyle Lauletta. He went 0-5 through the air with an interception in his only action against the Redskins in week 14.
He hasn’t been activated to the game-day roster ever since. Now out of the playoffs, many fans want to see if Lauletta can improve, as he’s one of the options to be the eventual successor to quarterback Eli Manning.
However, Shurmur shut down any hopes of the rookie quarterback starting. “We’re trying to win a game and Eli is our quarterback,” the first-year head coach stated.
Although a win would actually hurt their chances at getting a better draft pick this Spring, receiver Sterling Shepard doesn’t look at it that way. “We want to just go into the next season with a little bit of momentum and I feel like wins at the end of the season help with that,” Shepard said.
The Giants and Cowboys kick off at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
