Head coach Brian Daboll confirms that Banks will be back in the lineup after Monday’s mid-game benching
Deonte Banks, benched for more than half of Monday night’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, will start at cornerback on Sunday for the New York Giants when they host the NFC East-leading Washington Commanders.
“He will,” Giants head coach Brian Daboll said when asked if Banks would be in the lineup against Washington, which features star wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
Daboll was vague Sunday night as to why Banks was benched in the middle of the second quarter.
“Just thought needed a little bit more on that series,” is all the coach said Monday night.
Banks has been called out twice this season for lack of effort, once each against the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles.
Monday night, Banks missed a pair of tackles on his final defensive series. He also might have been out of position before knocking Steelers wide receiver George Pickens out of the back of the end zone to prevent a Pittsburgh touchdown.
Banks, the Giants’ 2023 first-round pick, did not appear to have any effort-related issues against the Steelers.
Just re-watched all of Deonte Banks’ snaps and it just doesn’t add up. There was no obvious lack of effort. Certainly nothing approaching the Hurts play last week.
Here are the three plays that stood out:
1. The Najee Harris hurdle. You can see Daboll on the sideline… pic.twitter.com/DBqUcvFo8P
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) October 29, 2024
Daboll was again evasive when asked to shed more light on the decision to replace Banks with veteran Greg Stroman, who was elevated from the practice squad before the game. Stroman was seeing his first action as a Giant.
“I would just say we made that decision and went in a different direction after the first 27 plays,” Daboll said. “And I have full confidence in Tae that he’ll be ready to go this week. And we’ll do everything we can to help him be ready to go.”
— More takeaways from Daboll’s media availability to come.
