Pascoe suprisingly left off Giants active roser

When the New York Giants cut down to the required 53-man roster for the upcoming regular season, one player was surprisingly left off the team: 2004 Granite Hills High graduate Bear Pascoe.

Despite being the only healthy tight end for much of the Giants’ training camp and preseason, Pascoe was one of 24 players put on waivers on Saturday, allowing the Giants to reduce its active roster to 53 players. Pascoe said on Sunday that he cleared waivers after he wasn’t picked up by any other team.

So Pascoe was one of eight players signed to the Giants’ practice squad, effectively putting him in the same situation as he was last year as a rookie when he was with the Giants’ practice squad. Pascoe eventually made it to the active roster near the end of the season and made one reception last year while playing for the Giants.

As a member of the practice squad, Pascoe will practice every day with the team. “I just won’t play on Sundays,” he said.

It’s almost a certainty that Pascoe will be on the active roster at some point during the regular season due to injuries or other circumstances, especially since he’s effectively now the third tight end for a team that has just two tight ends on its active roster. But it’s still obviously disappointing for Pascoe not to be named to the active roster to begin the regular season. But Pascoe is taking it in stride. 

“Right now I’m on the practice squad and (hoping) to work up from there,” he said. “Everybody wants to be on the active roster but it is what it is.”

All indications were that Pascoe was going to make the active roster as he started Thursday’s final preseason game against the New England Patriots in a two tight end set with Kevin Boss.

But it seemed to be a strange decision that the Giants kept just two tight ends to begin the season since the Giants are a running team that likes to run a great deal of two tight end sets. It was a given that starter Boss would be one of the other tight ends. But what seemed to be another strange decision was that Travis Beckum, who hadn’t been active with a neck injury, was the second tight end kept by the Giants.

The Giants also cut tight end Scott Chandler. And it also seemed strange that the Giants kept Beckum, more of a receiving tight end, over Pascoe, who seemed to be a better fit in the Giants two tight end set as a blocker.

Pascoe may have also been the odd man out after a couple of receivers who weren’t expected to make the 53-man roster, Victor Cruz and Duke Calhoun, made the active roster after impressive preseason.

Still, the New York Giants’ website reported that the decision concerning Pascoe was one of a couple of the transactions that was particularly unpleasant.

“There was an awful lot of sentiment for Bear, because of what he was able to do,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “There was an entire week in practice when he allowed us to practice. I had to cut some snaps out, he was the guy that kept us going. And when you’d go to him and think he might be a little fatigued, he’d say just the opposite — ‘Bring it on coach, I can do it.’ That attitude is a tremendous thing.”

Pascoe said he’s now focused on being ready when he’s called to the active roster. “I’ve got to work a little harder and get better at my game and get ready for the season,” he said.

Still, Pascoe sounded like a player who thought he performed well enough to make the active roster. “I felt like I had a strong camp and a strong preseason,” he said. “Like I said it’s one of those things.”

And when asked about what seemed to be a strange decision to just keep two tight ends and that Beckum was one of them, Pascoe said, “It’s their decision. They can do what they want. All I can handle is what I do.”