The Giants officially placed LB Kareem Martin on Injured Reserve on Wednesday due to knee injury suffered against the Cowboys, and while the team re-signed WR TJ Jones to fill the roster spot, the team may be looking at another recent addition to fill Martin's shoes on defense.
On Monday, the Giants claimed LB Tuzar Skipper off waivers from the Steelers. Pittsburgh had waived him to promote Johnny Holton to the active roster, and according to Skipper, they had hoped to bring him back before the Giants swooped in.
"They were short a gunner and low on wide receivers that week for New England, so they basically cut me and then they were going to bring me back to the (53-man roster) again, but the Giants claimed me," Skipper said. "They didn't think that I was going to get claimed. The Giants claimed me like the last five minutes before the deadline or something like that."
Skipper, an undrafted rookie free agent out of Toledo, was a pass-rush machine in the preseason for the Steelers. He racked up five sacks, seven QB hits, and two forced fumbles to force his way onto the Steelers' 53-man roster.
Now a Giant, Skipper is hoping to make an impact for his new team, and that starts with learning a brand new playbook.
"It's difficult because it took me a little while to learn the Pittsburgh Steelers' playbook, and now coming to a whole new organization to learn another playbook is a challenge, but challenge accepted," Skipper said.
"It was just an up-and-down emotional roller coaster really, because you thought you were going to be with one team, and then something unexpectedly happens. … I just try to take it day by day, learn the new playbook, that's really all I can do right now."
Fortunately for the 24-year-old Skipper, he already knows some of his new teammates from the pre-Draft process, and he knows he can always reach out for help when it comes to learning James Bettcher's defense.
"I've got a couple of friends here, about three or four right off the bat. I trained with them before the draft," said Skipper. "I'll probably be going to Jake Carlock because he's in the same position as me and he's been here for Training Camp, OTAs and things like that, so I feel good to go to him and ask him any questions."
Martin, a six-year veteran out of North Carolina, appeared in all 16 games for the Giants in 2018, his first with the team. In seven starts, he recorded 1.5 tackles and five tackles for loss.
