New York Giants wide receiver Cole Beasley missed his second straight practice Wednesday with a leg injury. The 34-year-old journeyman joined the Giants this offseason after coming out of retirement for a short stint with the Buffalo Bills late last year.
Head coach Brian Daboll confirmed Beasley’s injury after practice Wednesday, though he downplayed its severity. The setback comes at a crucial point in the offseason for Beasley, who is fighting for a roster spot in a crowded receiver room. Isaiah Hodgins, Darius Slayton, Parris Campbell, Sterling Shepard, Jalin Hyatt and Wan’Dale Robinson are all currently ahead of Beasley on the depth chart, with many more behind him vying for a bump themselves.
Shortly before sustaining his injury, Beasley spoke to reporters in defense of Daboll, an outspoken coach prone to emotional rants during practice. The two worked together during Beasley’s first stint with the Bills from 2019 to 2021, when Daboll was the team’s offensive coordinator.
“Anytime you got a guy that’s also working every day and trying to push you to be the best that you can be, that’s what you want,” Beasley said. “What you don’t want is a coach being quiet when things are going crappy. So he does a good job of knowing when he needs to give us some energy.”
A longtime member of the Dallas Cowboys, Beasley entered the league with the team in 2012 after four seasons of college football at SMU. He proved to be a key contributor in Dallas until his departure in 2018. Between his two Buffalo tenures, the first of which included second-team All-Pro honors in 2020, he was briefly a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before his retirement on Oct. 5 last year.
In 11 NFL seasons, Beasley has amassed 5,744 receiving yards and 34 touchdowns in the regular season. He has also played in 13 playoff games across seven seasons, starting in three of those contests and earning an additional 525 yards.
