In terms of the starting quarterback battle between Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, Rhule still wasn’t ready to name the winner, although multiple sources have said the job remains Mayfield’s to lose.

Rhule also wasn’t ready to say whether he would make that decision before the preseason finale Friday against Buffalo, but he did say “most, if not all, of the starters” will play against the Bills.

Almost all of the starters, including Mayfield and Darnold, were held out of the 20-10 loss to the Patriots.

Rhule said Corral’s injury won’t influence his decision on who plays against Buffalo. But he said it could influence whether the team keeps three quarterbacks as he said was the plan early in training camp.

Corral likely would have been the third quarterback, behind Mayfield and Darnold. Carolina also has former XFL star PJ Walker, who is 2-0 as a starter for the Panthers the past two years.

Walker struggled with two interceptions and a lost fumble that resulted in a touchdown against New England.

“That position takes a beating,” Rhule said. “We want to have as many good players at that position as possible and make no apologies for it. Matt was coming along.”

Corral’s injury occurred in the fourth quarter when a player stepped awkwardly on his foot. He limped off the field and did not return, leaving Gillette Stadium in a walking boot.

Rhule said deep snapper J.J. Jansen and other veterans gave up their seats in first class to give Corral more room on the flight home.

“I hate it for him,” Rhule said of Corral. “I thought he was playing well, too.”

The Panthers selected Corral in the third round out of Ole Miss. In the Friday matchup he saw his most extensive playing time in practice or preseason games as Mayfield and Darnold have gotten a majority of the snaps.

Corral, who was 1-for-9 in the preseason opener at Washington, was 9-for-15 for 58 yards against New England.

“I thought I saw a lot of really nice signs early in the game,” Rhule said. “But I know Matt’s a battler. This year’s developmental. He’s just going to have to grind, both taking care of his foot and all the things he needs to do as a quarterback.

“Hopefully, someday he’ll look back and say it was a blessing, but I hate it for him right now.”

McKinney’s situation is a little different. He’s a safety, and on defense the green dot is traditionally reserved for a linebacker. McKinney going head-to-head against Jones in the playcalling challenge confirmed that the Giants, in all likelihood, have a different plan this season.

“So, I had a discussion with [defensive coordinator Don] “Wink” [Martindale]. And I have a lot of confidence in Wink,” Daboll said. “He’s done it that way for the past few years. So, that’s who we chose to wear it right now.”

The initial response from former players to a safety getting that type of responsibility is generally surprise. It’s not the norm.

“Safety calling a defense? That’s rare,” former Giants linebacker and playcaller Jonathan Casillas said this week while watching the team practice. “Coverages sometimes come from defensive backs, but calling the defense? Never from a safety from my experience. But if you have capable safeties …”

McKinney has been the on-field defensive playcaller most of this summer, which makes some sense because the third-year safety rarely comes off the field and is part of the Giants’ future. Starting middle linebacker Blake Martinez might not always be a three-down player in Martindale’s defense, and is in the final year of his contract.

The Giants’ defensive formations this summer have featured a lot of three-safety and one-linebacker looks. Martindale seems to have endless pressure packages with rotating personnel, except on the back end.

Martindale has used a safety as the playcaller in his scheme in the past. Eric Weddle and Chuck Clark did it for him in Baltimore. Martindale even connected McKinney with Weddle this offseason to prepare for the role.

Weddle, who came out of retirement last year to win a Super Bowl ring with the Los Angeles Rams, played for Martindale from 2016 to 2018 with the Ravens.

“He helped me a lot, actually, with just kind of how to disguise certain things and how to be on the same page with Wink and things like that,” McKinney said of Weddle. “He really helped me out in terms of looking at film, studying film, how he did it when he had Wink.”

McKinney, 23, has called plays in the past.

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“The last two years, it has been the [linebacker] … I talked to Wink, and it’s not something that’s new to me. I’ve done it before — I did it at [Alabama],” McKinney said.

“It’s different when you’ve got grown men in the huddle and you’re trying to get the call to everybody. Obviously being on the back end of it, you might have to run 30 yards and run back to get the play to everybody.”

That is one potential downside to having a safety calling plays in the huddle. The other, mentioned by Casillas, is that in two-minute or hurry-up situations, it could be difficult for the safety to communicate with the defensive line — especially if there is significant crowd noise. The call might at times have to go from the safety to the linebacker to the defensive line, adding an extra layer of communication compared to when the middle linebacker calls the plays.

But Martindale and Daboll clearly aren’t afraid to think outside the box or adjust on the fly.

“Well, I don’t think that’s written in stone yet …” Martindale said of McKinney being the playcaller all season. “That could change week to week on who we have wear the green dot.

“The biggest thing is to get them all communicating.”

In Martindale’s scheme, with constantly changing positions as they rush the passer or bluff seemingly on every play, that might be more important than who is calling the plays on the field.