New York Giants suspend Eli Apple for Week 17 vs. Washington Redskins
By John Buhler
In what has been an atrocious season for the New York Giants, the team has decided to suspend cornerback Eli Apple for their regular-season finale.
When was the last time the New York Giants were this bad? They are 2-13 and will be picking No. 2 in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft. New York was the first team to fire its head coach in Ben McAdoo earlier this season. One player that has been nothing but trouble of late has been cornerback Eli Apple.
Apple is reportedly being suspended for the Giants’ final 2017 regular season game at home against the NFC East rival Washington Redskins. Though both teams are eliminated from playoff contention in the NFC, it’s strange to see a former first-round pick like Apple suspended in a game like this.
According to the NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, “Eli Apple’s suspension [on Wednesday] was due in part to his refusal to take the field with the scout team.” Garafolo’s NFL Network colleague Ian Rapoport would add that Apple “then got into it with a coach.”
Eli Apple’s suspension today was due in part to his refusal to take the field with the scout team, source says. @RapSheet says he then got into it with a coach.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 27, 2017
This is coming off a week where Apple’s defensive backfield mate, Pro Bowl safety Landon Collins, essentially called Apple a locker room cancer. It has been a most frustrating season in the Big Apple for Apple, but this is no way to set the tone for the new coaching staff coming in.
Steve Spagnuolo has been the interim since McAdoo was fired after the road loss to the Oakland Raiders. This was the game that McAdoo benched underperforming long-time starter Eli Manning in favor of bad backup quarterback Geno Smith.
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New York has been a total grease fire since Odell Beckham Jr. and the 2016 receiving corps went on that Miami boat before the NFC wild-card game with the Green Bay Packers. The Giants are far and away the worst team in the NFC, and Apple’s suspension is just another example of how wrong everything has gone for the G-Men in 2017.