ORCHARD PARK — A couple of the Giants with the most on the line in preseason games didn’t play a snap Saturday against the Bills.
But one played the whole first half.
While most Giants defensive starters departed after forcing two punts on eight total plays, cornerback Deonte Banks started and stayed in the game with the backups until halftime.
Why? There was more to it than just a cornerback shortage with Cor’Dale Flott, Tre Hawkins and Art Green unavailable.
“I thought he could use some work,” head coach Brian Daboll said. “So I played him as much as I wanted to play him.”
Banks is locked in a battle to start against Flott, who hasn’t practiced in the past week due to injury.
“We only had four corners so somebody has to go [extra],” Banks said. “I’m cool out there. I like football, so I’m … just doing my job.”
One knock on Banks is that he plays tight coverage but doesn’t turn his head in time to see the ball and break up a pass. That nearly happened again in the second quarter, but Banks forced Kristian Wilkerson out of bounds for an incompletion even though he secured the ball.
“I feel like I squeezed him,” Banks told The Post. “I looked kind of early, saw the ball was coming this way and then tried to play through the hands. I’ve been looking for the ball real good this camp. I looked at it like ‘I could’ve picked it’ if I turned the other way. I’ve been playing a lot of chest-to-chest and he just happened to throw it to my blind spot.”
Banks’ tackling effort was suspect last season and preseason games are the only opportunity for live tackling.
“I missed a tackle out there — the running back bounced out to the right and I kept sliding down,” Banks said. “But we haven’t tackled in a minute, so it’s a little rusty. But I did make a good tackle.”
In addition to Flott, Green and Hawkins, the Giants were without RG Evan Neal, WR Jalin Hyatt, WR Malik Nabers, WR Darius Slayton, RB Cam Skattebo, EDGE Chauncey Golston and DT Dexter Lawrence among others.
Most players who did not play, including Hyatt, were medical-based decisions, Daboll said.
Neal’s absence was the most costly as he needs preseason reps while transitioning to a new position and battling Greg Van Roten to start.
Russell Wilson completed 6-of-7 passes for 28 yards — rolling the pocket and utilizing mostly his tight ends and running backs on short routes — as part of a 12-play, 30-yard drive for a field goal in his one-series-long Giants debut.
“I think these preseason games mean so much to the culture of the locker room to pregame warmups to the whole rhythm of how we do that,” Wilson said. “I definitely wanted to play.”
All four quarterbacks led the team to points.
Jameis Winston threw a touchdown pass to Gunner Olszewski and a two-point conversion to Thomas Fidone. Both were great catches.
Winston capitalized on a second chance after an interception negated by an offside penalty.
Tommy DeVito threw a touchdown pass to Jonathan Ward.
Facing uphill battles to make the roster at defensive tackle, former draft picks D.J. Davidson and Jordon Riley had the only sacks and tackles for loss by the Giants.
