There was a scary moment roughly midway through practice Wednesday, when tight end Tommy Sweeney needed to be looked at by team doctors and carted off the field.
It was uncertain exactly what happened to Sweeney — the Giants called it a “medical event” — but he was in the rehab area when the issue arose.
He fell to the ground while he was working with a trainer and didn’t get up. Coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen came over to check on him.
Sweeney had been dealing with an undisclosed injury.
He was later sitting up on the cart with his practice jersey off.
“Tommy Sweeney had a medical event and is under the care of medical professionals in the Giants athletic training room,” the team said in a statement after practice. “He is stable, alert and conversant.”
Sweeney, 28, is entering his fifth season in the NFL after spending his first four years with the Bills.
He appeared in five games and had one reception last season, and signed a one-year deal worth $1.1 million with the Giants this offseason.
Sweeney, a Ramsey, N.J., native who attended Boston College, caught a touchdown pass in the Giants’ preseason game against the Lions on Aug. 11.
“That was extremely scary. You never want to see that on the field,” Daniel Jones said. “I haven’t been inside yet to see how he’s doing, but heard he’s doing OK and is up, so [I’m] definitely thinking about him.”
Sweeney has been battling Lawrence Cager, Ryan Jones and Chris Myarick for a spot on the Giants’ tight ends depth chart behind Darren Waller and Daniel Bellinger.
Rookie running back Eric Gray is the heavy favorite to be the Giants’ punt and kick returner. He has impressed special teams coach Thomas McGaughey with his patience as much as his play-making capabilities.
“Just making good decisions, and he’s done that so far,” McGaughey said. “He’s done some really good things as far as decision-making. We always tell our guys, ‘Let the plays come to you; don’t chase them.’ The plays will come to you.”
The special teams coach added: “Every day, all he’s done since he’s been here is get better every day. You watch him. You know what it’s like out here, the wind, and then in the stadium the other day, their guys were struggling with the wind. Eric did a great job with it.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka liked what he saw from Jones in his lone drive of the preseason last Friday. Jones led the Giants on a touchdown drive of 10 plays and 75 yards. He completed eight of nine passes for 69 yards and a 4-yard scoring strike to Bellinger.
“He was in there, he was really decisive,” Kafka said. “I thought he got the guys in and out of the huddle quickly, we played with some tempo. So, those are things that I think he’s been doing really all offseason and training camp, just having a really good tempo with the guys.”
Jones shot down a report in Sports Illustrated that he has put on 10 pounds of muscle.
“No,” he said with a laugh. “I’m a little bit heavier and maybe a little bit stronger, a little bit faster, but 10 pounds might be an exaggeration.”
The Giants worked out veteran cornerback William Jackson III on Wednesday. He was released by the Steelers in March.
