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Jordan Raanan, ESPN Staff Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Giants tight end Darren Waller showed up on the final injury report with a hamstring injury ahead of Sunday night’s opener against the Dallas Cowboys.
Waller is officially listed as questionable for the game. It’s the first time he has appeared on the injury report this week.
The injury is not solely from an incident at Friday’s practice, with a source telling ESPN that he experienced some hamstring tightness late this week. The fact that he was able to get on the field for practice is a positive.
Waller dealt with hamstring problems last season when he appeared in just nine of 17 games for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Waller, 30, had a left hamstring injury in training camp last year. A right hamstring kept him sidelined most of the season. It’s not currently known which leg Waller hurt during Friday’s practice in the sweltering New Jersey heat.
Injuries have been the concern with Waller in recent years. He’s played in just 20 of 34 games the past two seasons.
It appeared he was going to make it to the regular season unscathed. Waller looked dominant at practice throughout the summer and there were no signs of a problem up until Friday afternoon. The Pro Bowl tight end was on the field running unencumbered at the beginning of Friday’s practice.
Waller was perhaps the Giants’ biggest offseason acquisition. His size and speed in the middle of the field is supposed to give the offense a different feel and look. The hope is that it would be on full display Sunday night against the Cowboys. Waller caught three passes on four targets in his one drive this preseason.
Second-year tight end Daniel Bellinger would likely start if Waller is unable to play.
Waller admittedly altered his approach to the offseason in hopes of remaining healthy this season. He was also one of more than a handful of players that received “vet days” from coach Brian Daboll in order to try to keep him fresh.
“I know for me, the biggest adjustment I’ve had to make going into this offseason is making sure that I’m peaking at the right time,” Waller said immediately after the trade. “Something that helped me to elevate my game at such a high level was working myself so hard in those 2018, 2019, 2020 offseasons, to where it was almost too hard, and that became my norm. Now it’s about how do I become more efficient with it and making sure I’m peaking when the season starts, not showing up to training camp having worked so hard that I’m almost exhausted. That doesn’t set me up for success or the team up for success. For me, it’s about making sure I’m peaking at the right time.”
Waller has a pair of 1,000-yard seasons (2019-20) on his resume. He caught 28 passes for 388 yards and three touchdowns last year.
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