Azeez Ojulari expects to be back for Sunday’s game in Dallas after missing the last four games with a sprained ankle. If he is, the Giants’ third-year linebacker could be a force against the Cowboys.
The key, though, is keeping the Ojulari on the field.
He’s played just three games this season, missing time with a hamstring injury, in addition to the ankle sprain.
And last year, the 23-year-old second-round pick made it into just seven games after playing all 17 games as a rookie in 2021.
“It’s been tough,’’ Ojulari said following Friday’s practice, when he was listed as questionable, but said he would be ready for Sunday.
“Things happen and you have to bounce back,” Ojulari said. “I have to keep pushing and going forward.’’
Most importantly, stay healthy.
“I have to take these eight games I’ve got and take advantage of every opportunity to the fullest and max it out,’’ Ojulari said.
His goal for those eight games?
“Be destructive,” Ojulari said. “Be who I am.”
When he’s played, Ojulari has followed through on that expectation.
He led the team with eight sacks when he played in all 17 games during his first season out of Georgia.
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Last season, Ojulari went through a four-game stretch late in the year in which he had at least a partial sack in each game.
But this year, he has been unable to find his way to the quarterback, certainly due in part to the fact that injuries have so frequently left him unavailabe.
Ojulari played in the opener and then missed the next two weeks with the hamstring, returned for two weeks and got hurt again in the second game back against the Dolphins.
With that injury history, it’s fair to wonder how much the Giants will let him do against the Cowboys, since they want to keep him around — and off injured reserve — for the rest of the season.
He said Friday he’s been wearing special shoes that are designed to strengthen calves and ankles, which he hopes enables him to avoid any more leg injuries.
While Ojulari has struggled with his health, Kayvon Thibodeaux has emerged as a force and proven to be a very durable pass-rusher this season.
The defensive end has been on the field for 89 percent of the Giants’ defensive plays this season and has 8.5 sacks in nine games.
He had just four in 14 games as a rookie last season.
Drew Wilkins, the team’s outside linebacker’s coach, said Friday the team doesn’t mind Thibodeaux’s surging play total, saying, “If he can stay playing at a high level, which he’s been able to do, we’d love to have him out there every snap.’’
But Ojulari’s presence, if he still can be an effective pass-rusher, will no doubt help take some pressure off Thibodeaux, who has also been without Leonard Williams since Williams was traded to the Seahawks.
Having Ojulari back should help and then it’s up to Ojulari to show that he can “be destructive’’ for a longer period of time than he’s been able to for the last two seasons, since he wasn’t drafted by the current Giants’ regime and they’ve yet to see him be a force over an entire year.
“It’s been tough for me,” Ojulari said. “So whenever I get the chance, I want to be out there.”
