The New York Giants face the Washington Football Team on Thursday night in an NFC East battle. Washington will be without starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is out 6-8 weeks with a hip injury.

Taylor Heinicke will make his second start for Washington. In January, Heinicke started the NFC wild-card playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and almost led Washington to an improbable upset.

After signing a two-year contract in February, Heinicke now gets to lead this team for the foreseeable future.

New York Giants coach Joe Judge met with the media on Tuesday and gave a full scouting report on the Washington Football Team, including Heinicke.

“They both (Heinicke and Fitzpatrick) have a lot of similarities in terms of their competitiveness and how they play,” Judge said. They think on their feet, improvise in a game, how they extend plays. These guys are really true gamers. I say gunslinger in a very complimentary way for these guys. These are guys you cannot sleep on. We’ve got a lot of respect for Fitz. I think it’s very important to see everybody’s players in a game. We cannot sleep on Heinicke. This guy’s a good player—a talented player”.

While Judge was complimentary of Heinicke and Washington, it’s interesting to hear the head coach say his team “cannot sleep” on Heinicke. Washington or the Giants cannot afford to sleep on any player, much less the opposing quarterback.

While no games in Week 2 are a must-win, this is a big game for Washington. A loss would mean it dropped two consecutive home games to begin the season with a trip to Buffalo looking in Week 3. Washington needs this game.