While most of the early camp scuttlebutt has been on Eli Manning’s and the receiver corp’s assimilation of Ben McAdoo’s new offense, the sudden loss of the team’s defensive quarterback may prove to be a larger setback.
Jon Beason went down early during practice yesterday and immediately everyone associated with the Giants held their breath. Though it certainly could’ve been worse (poor Sean Lee…), the Giants lost that defensive anchor that worked so seamlessly since coming over in a mid-season trade with the Panthers. Beason suffered both a torn ligament and sesamoid fracture in his right foot. The estimated recovery time (complete with prayers to the heavens above) carries a best-case scenario minimum of twelve weeks, which cast serious doubts of his availability for the Giants when they open Monday Night Football in Motown against the Lions.
Unfortunately for Beason, this is yet another large checkmark on a long list of injuries that have, more often than not, been the story of his career. Our friends at Sports Injury Alert likely have an alarm bell when another entry gets written into his extensive file. He is scheduled for surgery today (June 13).
So where do the Giants go from here? In-house candidates don’t really stand out (Mark Herzlich would probably be the guy if no other options materialize), while retreads like Johnathan Vilma and London Fletcher are names only at the advanced stages of their careers. However, the Falcons have apparently zeroed on Vilma as their top target to replace their own injury risk in Sean Weatherspoon, who was lost for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. This may already strike the former Jet and Saint from the list of stopgap possibilities until Beason can return.
Through a team-issued press-release, Beason tried his best to put doubts and worries to rest prior to heading into surgery.
“The prognosis is ‘X’ amount of time and it [the Sept. 8 opener in Detroit] is within that timeframe, I expect to be back [for that game]. If not, I’ll be back as soon as I can. That’s really how you have to look at it. If it’s not 16 [games played], maybe it’s 15 or 14. Whatever it is, you want it to be that number as opposed to one.”
The Giants re-signed Beason to a three-year, $16.8 million deal.
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For the latest in sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
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