Giants LG Shane Lemieux has knee surgery, regular season over

The Giants have lost second-year left guard Shane Lemieux for the rest of the regular season due to knee surgery.

Enormous blow to the Giants and their already-thin offensive line.

Dan Salomone of the team’s official website reports second-year left guard Shane Lemieux had surgery on his left patellar tendon Wednesday. Because of this operation, Lemieux will be out for the rest of the regular season.

Update: OL Shane Lemieux underwent surgery today to his left patellar tendon. The procedure was performed at Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. Lemieux is expected to miss the rest of the regular season.

— Dan Salomone (@Dan_Salomone) September 23, 2021

The 2020 fifth-round draft pick originally suffered the partial tear of the patellar tendon back during training camp and exited the Week 1 loss to Denver after just 17 snaps. He hasn’t been on the game field since — the Giants placed him on injured reserve prior to the Week 2 loss to Washington.

Ben Bredeson replaced Lemieux in Week 1. Starting center Nick Gates then filled in for Lemieux at left guard against Washington but exited early due to a lower leg fracture, which paved the way for Bredeson to sub in once again.

Gates is out for the year as well.

The Giants will likely move forward with Bredeson at the left guard spot while Billy Price starts at center. New York acquired either player via the trade market back in August. Andrew Thomas, Will Hernandez, and Nate Solder are expected to remain at their starting left tackle, right guard, and right tackle spots, respectively.

The organization also acquired depth options this week, adding interior linemen Cole Banwart and Jonotthan Harrison to the practice squad.

Depth is crucial on the offensive line, and the Giants are certainly realizing that given how quickly injuries have affected this unit.

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