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Facing Eagles, Giants coach Ben McAdoo might not pick Ereck Flowers

Ben McAdoo may go a different direction after his left tackle struggled through the first two games of the season.

Giants coach Ben McAdoo might not start struggling tackle Ereck Flowers on Sunday against the Eagles.
Giants coach Ben McAdoo might not start struggling tackle Ereck Flowers on Sunday against the Eagles.Read moreMICHAEL AINSWORTH / AP

The Eagles aren't the only team with offensive line problems.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning has been sacked eight times in the first two games.

Left tackle Ereck Flowers has given up four of those eight sacks and could soon find himself getting benched, like Eagles left guard Isaac Seumalo apparently was on Wednesday.

In a conference call with the Eagles media, Giants coach Ben McAdoo made no guarantees that Flowers would still be in the lineup Sunday when the Giants face the Eagles at the Linc.

"We'll take a look at practice this week and see how it goes,'' he said. "Give all the players an opportunity to compete and show what they can do. And then try and improve.''

ESPN's Jon Gruden was critical of McAdoo during the Giants' loss to Detroit on Monday night for not giving Flowers blocking help against the Lions' Ziggy Ansah.

"Tackles block ends in this league,'' McAdoo said. "You have to pick your spots when you help. Especially when it's a two-score game.

"The toughest thing in football is for an offensive lineman to block a defensive lineman in the pass game when they know it's coming. I empathize with them there. We'll help them if we can. But when we can't, they have to block them.''

It doesn't get any easier for Flowers and the Giants' offensive line this week against the Eagles, who have eight sacks and are fourth in the league in sacks per pass play.

"They're as good and as deep as you'll find in football,'' McAdoo said of the Eagles' defensive line. "They obviously can get after the quarterback.

"But they can stop the run as well from their alignment, which usually is a challenge from that type of [wide 9] front schematically.''

The Giants haven't been running the ball much, mainly because they've had to play catchup in both of their first two games. They have just 30 rushing attempts in 108 offensive plays. Their 27.7 rushing percentage is the lowest in the league.

"We need to get the rushing attempts up,'' McAdoo said.

Safety patrol

Eagles linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill confirmed what Jim Schwartz said Tuesday, that coaches were preparing Grugier-Hill to play safety as the defensive backfield injuries mounted at Kansas City last Sunday.

"They were just kinda getting my mind right, going through some keys, maybe some plays and stuff," Grugier-Hill said. At 6-foot-2, 220, Grugier-Hill is a kind of hybrid-sized player whose main role is special teams. He said he worked a little at safety during Wednesday's practice, which safeties Rodney McLeod and Corey Graham and corner/safety Jaylen Watkins all missed with hamstring injuries. McLeod and Watkins are unlikely to be able to play this week against the Giants; Graham is hopeful but far from a lock.

After Malcolm Jenkins, the only healthy true safety was special teams ace Chris Maragos, until the team claimed Buffalo safety Trae Elston off waivers Wedneday afternoon.

Birdseed

Jim Schwartz seemed to be pronouncing Rasul Douglas's name like "Russell," instead of "Rah-suul" when Schwartz talked with reporters Tuesday.  Asked to clarify Wednesday, Douglas said: "Whatever Schwartz calls me, that's my name." … Chris Long said part of the impetus for the two scholarships he is funding to the private high school he attended in Charlottesville, Va., is that throwing his support behind combating bigotry resonates best while he is still in the league. "Tenth year, you don't how long you'll be able to do this," he said. "Your platform's really meaningful now; you don't know how meaningful it'll be in a year or two."