Larry Donnell knows, as the Giants face the Eagles in a critical NFC East clash Sunday, his playingไ time will be diminished because he no longer is the starting tight end and he will have🦩 to earn back what once was his.
“I’ve been blessed to be up here,” Donnell told The Post this week. “I’ve also been down here, so I know how to fight back from those type of things. It’s not something to be sad about, it’s something to fight about. In practice, when I get opportunities, in a game, which I believe will come again, I make those plays and earn that trust back. That’s how I see it, don’t frown on it, don’t be down on it. Just get better at it and stay better at it.”
Donnell, 28, 𝕴has not improved nearly enough in the areas that have held him back. His ball-security issues are well-documented. His tall, lean frame does not help him succeed in blocking assignments. With the ball in his hands, it is at times a hold-your-breath situation for the Giants and their fans. On the second offensive play two weeks ago in London, Donnell caught a pass for 8 yards, was hit, and lost the ball on a fumble against the Rams.
“I’ve talked about it but it hasn’t really become instilled in me yet and the ball still came out,” Donnell said. “I got to keep working, just like growing up riding a bike. You fall off of it you’re not gonna get on it the first time and ride down the street and ride two miles. You keep on working at it. Sometimes when I catch it, I’m thinking about getting up field and the thought of holding the ball kinda slips.”
It looks as if Will Tye and rookie Jerell Adams have moved ahead of Donnell as the Giants struggle to sort out their unsettled and non-productive tight end situation. Donnell raised expectations in 2014 when he caught 63 passes — six for touchdowns — but it has been a decline ever since for a playerꦿ who went undrafted out of Grambling State and worked his way up through the practice squad.
“How I got in this league is a blessing,’’ Donnell said. “I’ve been here for five years now, I never came to work saying, ‘I’m s–t.’ I always fight, always practice hard and that’s what I’m going to continue to do to keep playing.
“Nobody hates me. This is an organization, I think everybody in it wants to win and those type of thin♐gs I did don’t help us in any way. I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t want to fumble. I got to hold onto the football because that’s what’s expected and that’s what I need to do to keep playing.’’