Getty New York Giants head coach Joe Judge.
The Isaiah Wilson project appeared to be going well in East Rutherford — that was, until recently. Despite failing to see the field since his signing back in late September, the New York Giants had been relatively positive in their public assessment of the former first-round pick. Wilson, who will turn 23 years old next month, has steered clear of legal troubles after a rocky stint in Tennessee to begin his NFL career. He’s notably shed weight and has been cross-training between his natural position of tackle as well as guard.
In fact, on November 10 head coach Joe Judge even went out of his way to tell reporters that the team has “long-term plans” for Wilson. However, since then, talks surrounding the Brooklyn native have become far less positive.
When questioned by the media on December 30 regarding Wilson’s professionalism behind the scenes, offensive line coach Rob Sale answered with a curt “next question.” As one would expect, Sale’s sour response led to further pressing on Wilson’s situation to which Sale eventually cracked, giving a brief, yet less than favorable take on the second-year pro.
“Be dependable,” Sale said, somewhat irritated, via Tom Rock of Newsday. “Everybody likes somebody you can count on to be dependable . . . We have to get better [at that].”
Well, if Sale wants more dependability, Wilson proceeding to miss practice the literal next day due to a non-COVID illness likely didn’t sit well with the coach. As Doug Rush of USA Today highlighted, you can’t really make these things up.
So less than 24 hours after Giants OL coach Rob Sale calls out Isaiah Wilson for his lack of dependability, Wilson is MIA from today’s practice.
You really can’t make this season up.
Wilson Will Not Play for Shorthanded Giants vs. Bears
For the first time in his Giants tenure, Wilson was called up to the gameday roster for the team’s Week 16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles but failed to log a single snap. Welp, that’s more than we can say for Wilson this week.
On Saturday, January 1, the team promoted six players from the practice squad for their Week 17 showdown with the Chicago Bears. Wilson was not one of them. Instead, the Giants opted to call up fellow offensive tackle Derrick Kelly, as well as defensive linemen David Moa and Woodrow Hamilton, as well as wideouts Alex Bachman, Pharoh Cooper and David Sills.
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Giants Right Tackle Position is a Crapshoot
Starting right tackle Nate Solder (COVID ramp up) is currently listed as questionable for the 1:00 p.m. ET kickoff vs. Chicago. The 10-year-pro missed last week’s contest but did manage to log back-to-back limited sessions to wrap up the practice week heading into this Sunday. Beyond Solder’s iffy status, the team’s tackle position is aggressively depleted.
Matt Peart, who started in place of Solder vs. the Eagles, suffered a torn ACL in the game and has since been placed on injured reserve. Korey Cunningham, who replaced Peart in the game and logged a season-high 67 snaps, was placed on the COVID-19 list earlier this week, ruling him out for Week 17. Yet, despite the limited number of bodies up front, Wilson, who was the 29th overall player selected in the NFL Draft less than two years ago, still can’t do enough to even dress for gameday.
So much for a long-term plan. The way things are currently trending in East Rutherford, Wilson might be lucky to simply survive the remainder of the season on the team’s practice squad.