Darren Waller's hamstring injury kept him on the sideline Wednesday in preparation for the Giants' Week 2 matchup against the Cardinals, but he doesn't anticipate the hamstring limiting him at all: "Nah, I'm playing," he said Thursday via ESPN about Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals.
Waller isn't concerned about the hamstring moving forward. "No, not really."
Left tackle Andrew Thomas also missed practice after injuring his hamstring during Sunday night's loss to the Cowboys, but practiced on a limited basis on Thursday.
Waller played Sunday night despite being listed as questionable. The former Raiders Pro Bowl tight end caught three of five targets for 36 yards in his Giants debut. Waller also dealt with a hamstring injury last season that limited him to nine games.
"I still have people on working me, a team, and it wasn't the same degree of strain as last year," Waller said of his current injury, via the Daily News. "It more so has to do with the nerve that was behind it. So it's not really a muscular issue. It was more so a little bit something different, like nerve-wise."
While the injury is not resolved, it appears that Waller will continue to try to play through it while the Giants manage his workload during the week. If healthy, Waller can make a big difference for a Giants offense that failed to score any points during Sunday night's 40-point loss to the Cowboys.
"I was able to go out there and do all the snaps they asked me to do and not have it affect me," Waller said. There were some running real deep down the field where it might nip a little bit, but as far as everything that was asked (of) me, I was fine."
Waller's injury situation will continue to be a storyline, but the Giants have other pressing issues. New York's pass protection, for example, has come under scrutiny after allowing seven sacks and a dozen quarterback hits Sunday night. Giants head coach Brian Daboll attributed some of those numbers to the fact that the Giants went one dimensional for most of the game after falling behind by double digits early.
"Well, we got into one of those games as the game went on where we were throwing the ball and they knew we had to throw the ball, we were down a bunch," Daboll said, via the Giants' website. "Have to look at the tape for some of the stuff. But, you know, obviously it wasn't good enough. No area was good enough tonight, from protection to coaching, to running, to tackling. Whatever it may be, you name it, it wasn't good enough."
