The New York Giants have reportedly signed left-footed punter Sean Smith to the practice squad ahead of Week 9.
The New York Giants are adding a special teams asset to their practice squad ahead of their Week 9 primetime matchup with the Dallas Cowboys.
According to Jordan Raanan of ESPN, the Giants have signed left-footed punter Sean Smith. What’s interesting about this move is that New York is about to face a left-footed punter in Dallas’ Chris Jones. Therefore, this move could solely be a contribution to the special teams preparation.
The Giants signed left-footed punter Sean Smith to the practice squad. It’s something Pat Shurmur did last year before facing a left-footed punter. Dallas has a left-footed punter in Chris Jones. ?
— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) October 31, 2019
Smith is a first-year player out of the University of Dayton. During his time there, he was a four-year starter and was selected to the All-Pioneer Football League team each of those seasons.
During his senior campaign in 2018, Smith punted the ball 30 times for 1,361 yards, an average of 45.4 yards-per-punt. Additionally, he kicked off 69 times.
Throughout his collegiate career, he punted 202 times for 8,550 total yards, an average of 42.3 yards-per-punt. He only kicked off in his junior and senior seasons, totaling 119 kickoffs in the two years combined.
It’s not clear if the Giants will keep Smith on the practice squad after this week’s preparation concludes.
Big Blue has dropped its last four games to fall to 2-6 at the midway point of the regular season. They now find themselves at third in the NFC East division, with the 1-7 Washington Redskins being the only team in a worse spot than them.
New York and the Cowboys kick off at MetLife Stadium next Monday night at 8:15 p.m. ET.
