New York Post, Sunday, November 15, 2020nypost.comthem. But when the time is
right, you learn from them
and you work on the things
that need to be improved on
that could have prevented
that.’’
Since the drop, Engram
has 10 receptions for 109
yards and his only touch-
down of the season. He has
been active, but certainly
not mistake-free. He nearly
had a deflection off his
hands result in an intercep-
tion and also had an offen-
sive pass interference pen-
alty and what could have
been a costly drop in last
week’s victory over Wash-
ington.➤The NFL doled out a
$11,031 fine Saturday to S Ja-
brill Peppers for his hit on
Washington QB Kyle Allen
last week. Allen suffered a
fractured ankle on the play.➤WR Darius Slayton,
after a fast start to his sec-
ond NFL season, has
cooled. He had only one
catch (for 6 yards) lastBy Paul SchwartzThere is only one.
Sterling Shepard is the only current Giants
player to beat the Eagles while playing for the
Giants. That was in early November 2016. Eli
Manning threw four touchdown passes —
two to Odell Beckham Jr. and one to Shepard,
a rookie at the time — in a 28-23 Giants vic-
tory at MetLife Stadium.
Since then? Nada.
The Giants take an eight-game losing streak
in the series into Sunday’s game with the Ea-
gles. Reaching back even further, the Giants
have lost 12 of the past 13 against their closest
geographic rival in the NFC East.
In late November 2018, when the streak
stood at four consecutive Giants losses to the
Eagles, Beckham said, “I was looking back on
my career, I was trying to think of the last
time we beat the Eagles. I know they’ve been
giving it to us. It’s time for that all to turn
around.’’
Two days later, the Eagles beat the Giants
for a fifth straight time.
Joe Judge, in his first year as the head coach,
is 0-1 against his hometown Eagles, losing
22-21 after his team back in Week 7 blew a
21-10 fourth quarter lead.
Linebacker Blake Martinez, in his first year
with the Giants, was with the Packers thepast four years and admits these one-sided
series can play mind-games on the partici-
pants.
“I don’t think it’s any of the confidence por-
tion, but it’s definitely something you think
about throughout the week, knowing that you
can either end that streak or continue the
streak type of thing,’’ Martinez said.
Inside the building, longtime Giants execu-
tives are sick of losing to the Eagles. The Gi-
ants also have an extended (seven game) los-
ing streak to the Cowboys.
“Obviously on the Patriots, [I was] on the
right side of a lot of them,’’ safety Logan Ryan,
another first-year Giants player, said. “When
I went to Tennessee, they never beat Andrew
Luck. They were like 0-and-something
against the Colts or 1-and-whatever against
the Colts. We were on the wrong side of it,
and we didn’t care. I don’t think players care.
“I think playing in this league for eight
years, the division games matter. I think
they’re the toughest games. I think when you
play somebody twice, I think it’s tough be-
cause they know your tendencies. They
know your players. They are going to work
on what hurt them last time. They’re not go-
ing to make the same mistakes. They’re going
to come with something different. It’s
tougher to prepare because you know them
so well so they might change it up on you.’’By Paul SchwartzOf course he remembers,
because how could he for-
get?
Evan Engram faces the Ea-
gles on Sunday, three weeks
after his terrible dropped
pass with just over two min-
utes remaining robbed the
Giants of a well-earned vic-
tory. The Giants were ahead
21-16, and if Engram secured
the ball on third-and-6, they
likely run out the clock or
give the ball back with just
seconds remaining. Instead,
the Giants had to punt and
the Eagles moved in for the
winning touchdown.
It was and is a difficult
memory for Engram to
shake off.
“I think the biggest thing
that I’ve learned is learn-
ing how to stay in the ex-
act moment,’’ Engram
said. “There have been a
lot of times where I’ve al-
lowed a bad play to lin-
ger, and mentally it’ll
mess me up. It won’t al-
low me to prepare for the
next play and make the
next play. I think my ma-
turity and I’ve just kind
of grown in this league
and through the adver-
sity and the lessons
learned, I’ve learned to
just kind of stay in the
moment.
“When the mistakes do
happen and the bad
plays do happen, defi-
nitely you need to flushthe fourth-most in the tournament —
which earned him MVP honors and a
spot on the media-voted, five-man All-
Star team.
Considering Alexis has
been away from home for
most of his life in order to
set himself up for the NHL,
Lori-Jane rarely missed an
opportunity to see him. In
their mom’s eyes, each time
the two were reunited after
months apart their relation-
ship grew stronger and
stronger.
But when the 2019-20 sea-
son was suspended due to
the coronavirus pandemic,
Alexis came home for sev-
eral months.
“It really allowed them to
spend quality time together,”
his mom said in a translated
email. “As parents, that was a true silver
lining of this whole pandemic.”
Asked about his relationship with his
sister, Alexis pointed to more than just
sibling love. He talked of the immense
gratitude and admiration he has for her, as
well as his awareness of how vital she’s
been to his hockey career.
“My sister is very important to me,” he
said. “Her and I have a great
relationship, and I know I
can count on her for any-
thing. She has made a lot of
sacrifices to help me get
where I am today. She often
took a backseat so that my
parents could help me in my
career and follow me every-
where.
“She never complained
about it once. I will never be
able to thank her enough for
that.”
Lori-Jane’s love for her
brother has always been vis-
ible. And the day before
Alexis was set to make his
first trip to the Big Apple
earlier this month, she put that love on
display permanently, tattooing his new
Rangers number, No. 13, on the inside of
her left wrist.
[email protected]SINCE DAY 1: Alexis Lafreniere’s older
sister, Lori-Jane, has been by his side from
the start of his hockey career, playing
goaltender for him (left), and she was there
when he became the No. 1 pick in this year’s
draft (top). She even got his No. 13, which he
will wear with the Rangers, tattooed on her left
wrist (below). Lafreniere family; Getty ImagesShepard only Giant to know
what it’s like to beat Birds
week, as opposing defenses
are paying more attention
to him. Slayton had 23 re-
ceptions in the first five
games but just 10 in the past
four.
“I’d certainly say he’s a
guy that people have seen
make a lot of plays over the
course of the year,’’ offen-
sive coordinator Jason
Garrett said. “Often times,
they’ll put who they regard
as their best defender on
him for portions of the
game or they’ll roll cover-
age to him. That’s really just
a tribute to him and the suc-
cess he’s had.’’➤Eagles WR Alshon Jef-
fery is set to make his sea-
son debut. He was dealing
with foot and calf injuries
this season and has not
played in a game in nearly
one full year.
“I’m hopeful that he can
just kind of plug and play,
but realistically I think it’s
going to take some time,’’
Eagles coach Doug Peder-
son said. “It’s going to take a
little bit of time for him to
get comfortable in the game,
to be up to game speed, to
kind of get fully integrated
back into playing football.’’Engram learns
from costly drop
GIANTS
NOTES