Pascoe update
January 20, 2012 4:09 PM
New York Giants starting tight end Jake Ballard’s knee is acting up again, but Ballard said he expects to play in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers in San Francisco.
Ballard, who missed the regular season’s last two games due to the knee injury, experienced some swelling in the knee on Thursday. He sat out Friday’s practice and was listed as questionable for Sunday’s game, but Ballard said he’s not concerned.
“I just saw the doctor a little bit last night and they performed the procedure,” said Ballard on Friday. “I’ll be ready to go. They just pulled me out just to rest me for the day.”
Both Ballard and Coughlin said the procedure that was done wasn’t surgery. “The knee was a little sore today and I should be ready to go for the game,” Ballard said.
If for whatever reason Ballard is unable to play on Sunday, Bear Pascoe, a 2004 Granite Hills graduate, and Travis Beckum would combine to fill in for Ballard as they did when Ballard couldn’t play during the regular season.
Pascoe has seen a lot of reps during practice this week. But Pascoe saw a lot of reps during practice last week as well before seeing limited time as a lead blocker in last Sunday’s 37-20 win over the Green Bay Packers due to a change in the game plan.
Sunday’s game will be televised at 3:30 p.m. on FOX.
