It’s looking increasingly likely that the Giants will have defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul in the lineup when they meet the Buccaneers this weekend, but the chances that tight end Larry Donnell will join him aren’t looking quite as good.
Donnell hurt his neck in last Sunday’s loss to the Saints and has continued having muscle spasms in his neck this week. He didn’t practice on Wednesday and coach Tom Coughlin didn’t have much of an update about when he would be back in action.
“Week-to-week, I’m sure,” Coughlin said, via ESPN.com. “Day-to-day, week-to-week, I don’t know.”
The Giants have enough concern about his ability to play this week that they’ve added another tight end to the roster. The team announced Thursday that they have promoted Jerome Cunningham from the practice squad. Cunningham played in Week Two against the Falcons, catching one pass for three yards in his first NFL regular season action. Will Tye is the other healthy tight end on the Giants roster and would likely start if Donnell isn’t ready to go.
Defensive end Owa Odighizuwa was placed on injured reserve with the designation to return to make room for Cunningham. Odighizuwa has a hamstring injury and is eligible to play again in the last week of the regular season.
