The New York Giants are not expected to play the majority of their starters during Thursday night's preseason opener.
After hosting the Detroit Lions for two extremely physical days of joint training camp practices, it seems head coach Brian Daboll believes that was enough work for most of the starters.
According to Jordan Raanan of ESPN, the majority of starters, including quarterback Daniel Jones and wide receiver Malik Nabers, are not expected to play Thursday night.
This is probably the wise choice even though fans want to see Jones and Nabers in action. The two joint practices essentially serve as scrimmage reps so it's not as if they're missing out on game action.
Sitting the majority of starters during the preseason opener also gives the Giants — and other teams — more reps to watch the players lower on the depth chart.
The starters will eventually get on the field during the second preseason game against the Houston Texans on Saturday, Aug. 17. There are no joint practices leading up that matchup, and the team will get over a week of recovery time between the games.
Even without the starters, there will be plenty of players to keep an eye on as the position battles begin to heat up over the final three weeks before the roster is cut down.
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