New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka’s plan for the running game had been simple: Give the ball to Cam Skattebo and get out of the way. That option is now no more — the rookie rusher is done for the year after a dislocated ankle needed emergency surgery in Philadelphia on Sunday night.
“I think we all feel for Skatt and what he meant to the team, the offense, the energy he brought,” Kafka said on Thursday. “I wish him a speedy recovery. He’s been around the building a couple times too, so it’s been good to see him. He keeps the guys’ spirits high, which has been good. But you have a guy like that that gets hurt in that kind of way, it’s certainly a downer.”
Skattebo had helped revitalize spirits around the Giants alongside rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, rushing for 410 yards with eight total touchdowns in eight games (five starts). Now, the backfield duties fall back upon Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Devin Singletary, who were supposed to be a more significant part of the rushing platoon when preseason prognostications were being made.
Singletary has just 28 carries for 84 across eight games this season. Tracy has 159 yards and a touchdown on 45 attempts in six games. Both were notable contributors to the Giants’ backfield last season.
“Those guys are going to step up and do a heck of a job in terms of carrying the load in the run game, in the pass game,” Kafka said. “They do a phenomenal job, and they’re pros, right? I mean, these guys are starters in the league, and we have full confidence in those two… It’s certainly easier than when you get a guy off the street and don’t really know much about him besides maybe just the tape you watched on him. So having those guys over the course of the last few years, understanding who they are, is certainly a little bit easier.”
Their first tests come against an injury-riddled San Francisco 49ers defense whose run defense is a middle-of-the-pack unit this season, though they yielded a season-worst 157 rushing yards in their Week 8 loss to the Houston Texans. While they are already without stars Nick Bosa and Fred Warner, another three members of their defensive front — defensive tackles Jordan Elliott and Sam Okuayinonu, along with defensive end Bryce Huff, are all listed as questionable for Sunday afternoon’s tilt at MetLife Stadium.
Perhaps it’s a softer challenge than usual, and it allows Kafka to work on tailoring the Giants’ game plan to his new go-to platoon of backs.
“We want to build that play, that system around the strengths of those players,” he said. “So, whether it’s Tracy, whether it’s [Singletary], we go back and we say, we know who these players are. They’ve been with us now for a little while, so we understand what they’re good at, we understand where their strengths and weaknesses are, and so we try to put them in the best position to be successful.”
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