New York Giants WR Golden Tate sees scout team reps Thursday

Veteran wideout Golden Tate returned to the New York Giants on Thursday after his selfish outburst during Monday’s game.

“Throw me the damn ball” shouted Golden Tate towards the New York Giants sideline in the midst of Monday’s loss to the Buccaneers.

Tate expressed his frustrations in a selfish manner while his wife, Elise, criticized the Giants’ usage of him via her personal Instagram account.

This is something that Ben McAdoo and Pat Shurmur may have been too timid to handle, but not Joe Judge. After the rookie head coach addressed the situation to both his team and the media, spoke with Tate, and had him stay home from practice on Wednesday, the veteran receiver found himself deep into the Giants depth chart on Thursday.

According to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News, Tate did not take reps with either the starters or backups and instead saw time with the scout team. There were additionally practice squad receivers taking reps over him.

Golden Tate back at practice but not running routes with any of the offensive units during buildup (pic on right). Then goes to the field w/ scout team offense. Have to wonder if he’ll dress Sunday. He also spent first period adjusting cleats on sideline (pic on left). #Giants pic.twitter.com/wOATBmP70T

— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) November 5, 2020

Judge set the tone for the situation in a Wednesday Zoom call with reporters.

“It has to be team-first for everyone in this building, every coach and every player,” he said, per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. “There are no exceptions for that. I’m not going to tolerate and put up with any kind of selfish behavior from anybody.”

There was a report, via ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, that the Giants tried moving Tate prior to Tuesday afternoon’s NFL trade deadline. Obviously, the organization was unsuccessful in doing so.

WR Golden Tate is a player the Giants are trying to move. The money (still owed almost $4.5M this year) could be prohibitive.

But Tate’s role with Giants has been shrinking (54% of snaps on Monday night). Only 5 targets past two weeks. Frustration growing?

“Throw me the ball!” pic.twitter.com/pZ85vmiyue

— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) November 3, 2020

Tate’s overall role has diminished over the course of the season. He took part on just 51% of the team’s offensive snaps against the Buccaneers and only 47% of offensive snaps against the Eagles in Week 7. This comes after he saw time on 92 and 75% of reps in Weeks 3 and 4, respectively.

It’s unclear if Tate will dress Sunday against Washington. But at this point in time, it doesn’t seem like coach Judge is all too thrilled with his veteran receiver.