Jon Beason pushing for preseason reps, still on track for season-opener

EAST RUTHERFORD – While the offense continues to try and keep the sky from falling, the defense has gotten some good news: Jon Beason is still on track for the season-opener, and is still pushing to get some snaps in the preseason.

The news is pretty remarkable given that Beason, who as also recovered from a ruptured Achilles and microfracture surgery, continues to fend off serious issues to stay on the field.

"I think so, I feel pretty good, man. I'm going through the progressions," Beason said when asked if he would play against Detroit. "Today should be pretty aggressive getting after it and doing some things based off reaction as opposed to anticipation, which is what we do on defense."

Beason said he doesn't necessarily need to practice, which makes sense given that he's basically run the positional meetings since his arrival last year. He said he'll be confident enough to tell the training staff when he'll be ready.

Beason will wear a larger shoe to fit in some of his custom orthotics, which should help keep the injured area from enduring too much stress. He wants to take his final tests on turf in order to convince himself he is ready. Beason sustained the injury on the Giants' indoor turf field and the team plays a majority of their games on the artificial surface this year.

"I feel like I'm really close, but I have to go out and do it and I want to test it, that's going to confirm it for me," he said. "Obviously, we play a lot of games on turf. Turf is more rigid than grass, so it's going to feel really good on grass. In my opinion, we should only play football on grass, you do yourself a huge service later on."

He is just happy to have the chance to play in a preseason game, though the training staff will likely advise against it because Beason does not need the reps. Sustaining a serious injury at this point in the preseason could be catastrophic for the team.

"Going into it, to have the opportunity to play in the last few preseason games was really the goal," he said. "Whether you do or you don't, because that is not my decision, they might say 'hey, it's not worth risking it to go out and play against the Jets or the Patriots,' but you have the opportunity and that is great."


(nj.com)