KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There has been very little this season from Oshane Ximines. The Giants need more from him Monday night.
With Lorenzo Carter out with an ankle injury, Ximines is the next man up at outside linebacker. Rookie Azeez Ojulari (team-high 5.5 sacks) has done the job as a starter, but Carter and Ximines (zero sacks combined) have not contributed nearly enough of pass rush from the edge.
With the speed the Chiefs possess on offense, Ximines and Ojulari’s ability to get to the perimeter will be tested.
“We move as a whole, as one defense, being they got speed on the back end, we got to try to help those guys out as much as we can,’’ Ximines told The Post, “doing things like getting our hands up in the passing lanes and applying pressure on the quarterback, that’s going to help take pressure off them.’’
Ximines has not started this season and has yet to play 50 percent of the defensive snaps in any game. He is supposed to be a strong pass rusher, but he has no sacks and only one quarterback hit.
His target in Week 8: Patrick Mahomes.
“He’s a dynamic player, he’s got a lot of tricks up his sleeve so it’s gonna be fun competing against him,’’ Ximines said. “There’s been a couple of times this year, I think it was against Washington, when he was rolling to his right and just whipped it back, that was like ‘Whoa.’ You know what I’m saying? It was right on the money. Crazy.’’
With Carter out, there also will be increased snaps for rookie Quincy Roche, a 2021 sixth-round draft pick of the Steelers who was waived before the season. Roche played a season-high 23 snaps in last week’s victory over the Panthers, adding three tackles, one for loss.
Not much happens to light up the scoreboard in the first quarter of Giants games this season. The Giants have scored only six points in the first quarter — only the Jets were less potent until they scored in the opening quarter for the first time this season on Sunday. The Giants have allowed only 13 points in the first quarter.
It looks as if the Giants will start the same five offensive linemen in back-to-back games for the first time this season. From left to right, the Giants are expected to go with Matt Peart, Will Hernandez, Billy Price, Matt Skura and Nate Solder.
“I think it’s nice for those guys to be playing with each other as a continuous group,’’ coach Joe Judge said. “But again, we still roll and rotate everybody in there through practice and games. In terms of if there’s any emotion from me, honestly, no. Whoever is at the game we expect to play and be productive, so I don’t really look too much into the multiples or the different variations of groups.’’
Something to watch: The Chiefs have punted an NFL-low 12 times all season. Getting them off the field on offense is not easy. The Giants have punted 26 times, 19th in the league.
