Getty Golden Tate of the New York Giants.
The New York Giants have officially announced that wide receiver Golden Tate will not be traveling to Washington with the team, nor be active for Sunday’s Week 9 divisional bout.
Yet, despite the disciplinary action, Tate is not expected to be cut, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, who notes that missing this week’s game is specifically for his actions on Monday night.
Tate notably shouted, “throw me the ball” at cameras following his spectacular last-second touchdown against the Buccaneers in Week 8’s eventual loss.
Tate was told to stay away from the team’s facility on Wednesday following a slew of varying outbursts from not only him but his wife as well. Furthermore, he was spotted liking tweets calling for his release on his day off.
The decision to bench Tate should not come as a surprise. While not committing to the move on Friday with members of the media, it was clear head coach Joe Judge was nearing a decision in regards to the status of his disgruntled pass-catcher.
“We still have an entire day of practice to go through today. We’ll evaluate everything and make decisions on the back end of today of what we’re going to do going through the weekend,” Judge said. “I’m going to discuss a lot of possibilities today after practice.”
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Tate Delegated to Scout Team?
After being excused from Wednesday’s practice, Tate returned on Thursday, having been designated as a full participant in each of the past two sessions. With that said, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan noted that Tate did a lot of “standing and watching” during the open portion of Thursday’s practice.
Furthermore, Raanan shared this gem on Friday, where Tate was spotted at practice donning a red No. 17 jersey, seemingly simulating Washington wideout Terry McLaurin on the scout team.
Golden Tate, with 112 career starts on his resume, spending this Friday on the scout team playing Washington WR Terry McLaurin.
Judge brushed off Tate’s presence on the scout team as typical practice among all Giants players.
“All of our players play with the scout team at some point or another. We have limited numbers, so everyone rotates on through. In addition to that, we have practice squad players that work in with our ones as well. With limited numbers out there, we roll guys as much as possible. Especially on a day like Thursday, which is a heavy passing day for us. It’s third down, it’s some red area, it’s two-minute. We roll all of our skill players equally on both sides,” Judge said.
The team’s leader in targets a season ago, Tate has seemingly become an afterthought under the new coaching regime in New York. Through seven games, the ex-Notre Dame standout has hauled in 22 of his 29 targets for 225 yards and two touchdowns.
With Tate not traveling for Sunday’s game, The Athletic’s Dan Duggan expects UDFA rookie Austin Mack to serve as the team’s third wide receiver, alongside Darius Slayton and Sterling Shepard.
Recently claimed wideout Dante Pettis is not eligible to join the team until next week due to COVID-19 protocols.