Nassib stumbles in start for Manning, Dolphins win 27-10

The threat of severe weather has delayed the start of Friday night’s preseason game between the Miami Dolphins and the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. “You never go into a game expecting to throw interceptions, obviously when you fail it’s disappointing and frustrating, but we have to bounce back and get back out there”.

Nassib, now in his fourth year with the Giants, struggled in what could have been an audition to remain the top choice at backup. Odighizuwa recorded three solo tackles, two tackles for a loss, two sacks and three quarterback hits in limited time. The second-string players on back, however, eventually put it together to come back from the 10-0 deficit to win.

“It’s early. It doesn’t look to be anything serious at this point”, Giants coach Ben McAdoo said of the injuries to both of his star rookies.

“Yeah, I was excited”, McAdoo said.

I don’t think this was the start that Adam Gase had in mind.

Both players talked in the locker room after the game and expressed relief that the injuries were minor.

That doesn’t mean the head coach liked everything he saw. “Any time you have six balls on the ground and two interceptions, it’s not what we’re looking for”.

“I’m not pleased about any of that”, McAdoo said.

Fortunately, the preseason opener did not turn into a body game for the Giants. The highlight was an absolutely ridiculous diving catch by rookie wide receiver Sterling Shepard for 24 yards that would set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Rashad Jennings. Nassib has attempted just 10 regular season passes in his National Football League career, but has completed nine of them for 128 yards and a TD.

“Personally, I’m just hungry to get to the next practice, since it’s another opportunity to improve, take what happened [Friday] night, learn from it and work on getting better moving forward”, he said. Their next preseason game will be at the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, Aug. 20 at 4PM ET.

Nassib called the turnover barrage “unacceptable”.

Apple suffered a strained lower leg but not before recording two tackles and recovering a fumble. First-round pick cornerback Artie Burns missed the game with a nagging thigh injury, while linebackers Bud Dupree and Jarvis Jones – former first-round picks – also sat out.

“It was great”, Apple said.

The Giants, like every other team, just want to get to week one without any major injuries. They’ll also need crisper execution on offense, something that should come when Manning, Beckham Jr. and Cruz play.