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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — With so many starters sitting, the Giants on a steamy Saturday in South Florida were more interested in figuring out various roster spots than they were getting their marquee players tuned up for the real season.
This was going to be an afternoon for some to rise and others to fall.
Consider Tyrone Tracy Jr. as having stumbled, again.
The third-year running back, a productive player on bad teams the past two years, continued to struggle in a summer to forget.
Just as it looked as if he hit his groove, he hit a wall.
And where this goes from here is anyone’s guess.
Veteran Devin Singletary started at running back, with Cam Skattebo on the sideline with most of the other frontline players on offense, including quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Tracy came in on the second series and stayed in for the third series and that is where it all went wrong for him as the Giants took a 17-point halftime lead en route to a 26-3 preseason win over the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium.
Tracy ran for 11 yards and then, bottled up, made a strong cut to his left for a 12-yard pickup.
On the Dolphins 10-yard line, Tracy got it again and that is where disaster struck.
He lost control of the ball without any contact for a brutal turnover.
As the first quarter expired, Tracy stood on the sideline, by himself, looking skyward, clearly upset with himself.
Singletary was on the field the next time the Giants had the ball and he ran through the Dolphins, finishing off a 71-yard drive by bursting to the right for a 13-yard touchdown scamper.
The 28-year-old veteran has had an impressive training camp.
“I mean, obviously Motor is a really good football player,’’ Harbaugh said recently. “He always has been. He’s had a great camp. You know exactly what he’s going to give you.’’
Harbaugh cannot say the same right now about Tracy.
In the preseason-opening loss to the Vikings, Tracy blatantly missed a blitz pickup and Dart got crushed.
The Giants did not sign veteran running back Najee Harris as a direct response to Tracy’s blunder but that Tracy has not exactly wowed the new coaching staff cannot be ignored.
The signing of Harris changed the dynamic of the running back room and upped the ante on the competition.
Skattebo is safe, of course, and it certainly appears Singletary is, as well.
Harris on Thursday was given snaps in the joint practice with the Dolphins but he did not play in this game; he is coming off surgery to repair a torn Achilles suffered Sept. 21 when he was with the Chargers.
Before that, he started his NFL career with four consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons with the Steelers.
If healthy, it feels inevitable that Harris will be on the team and have a role on offense. Harbaugh has said Eric Gray “has really had a good camp.” Where does that leave Tracy?
In 32 games the past two seasons, Tracy — a 2024 fifth-round draft pick — rushed for 839 and 740 yards, respectively, and surpassed 1,000 yards from scrimmage both years.
This, however, is a new beginning for the Giants with Harbaugh running the show and Tracy clinging to a roster spot.
Dart was superb in the joint practice two days earlier and that was enough in the heat of South Florida for him. “Certain guys, I’m sure, got enough work,’’ Harbaugh said Thursday, and Dart was one of those certain guys.
There were plenty more of those certain guys, including three starting offensive linemen: Andrew Thomas, Jermaine Eluemunor and rookie Sisi Mauigoa, who went out with a stinger in the joint practice.
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Three projected starters in the secondary — cornerbacks Paulson Adebo and Greg Newsome II and safety Tyler Nubin — all started but the entire up-front group — Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux, DJ Reader and linebackers Arvell Reese and Tremaine Edmunds — all sat out.
As they did in the joint practice, the Giants in the first half pretty much had their way with the Dolphins.
Jameis Winston ran for a touchdown and rookie kicker Dominic Zvada, getting his first preseason action, hit field goals of 43 and 32 yards and nailed both his extra points.
Odell Beckham Jr. nearly had the highlight he needed to make a strong claim for a roster spot.
He got behind cornerback Miles Battle in the end zone in the closing seconds of the first half and Winston put the ball where it needed to be.
Beckham leaped for the reception but could not come down with the ball, as it fell off his hands.
Beckham had two catches for 17 yards in the first half.
Darius Slayton, coming off surgery to repair a sports hernia, has been fairly quiet this summer but he broke out with four receptions for 58 yards against a Dolphins defense also resting several starters.
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