Giants LB Blake Martinez tears ACL, out for season (Report)

The veteran inside linebacker tore his ACL during the Giants’ Week 3 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon.

It’s not getting any easier for the Giants, who have started the year 0-3 following a brutal 17-14 loss to Atlanta Sunday.

ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reports starting inside linebacker Blake Martinez has torn his ACL. The injury occurred early in the matchup in which Martinez overran an Atlanta ball-carrier, fell to the turf, and exited the contest.

Giants middle linebacker Blake Martinez has a torn ACL, per sources. He will miss the remainder of the season. Martinez's streak of 140+ tackles in four straight years ends. A huge loss for the Giants. Martinez was the defensive signal-caller and a captain.

— Jordan Raanan (@JordanRaanan) September 27, 2021

Given it was a non-contact injury and taking into consideration the Giants ruled Martinez out shortly thereafter, a torn ACL was always a possibility.

It’s the worst-case scenario, and the Giants must now move forward without their defensive captain and one of their top players on that side of the ball.

Laundry List of Injuries

This isn’t even close to the first health-related setback the Giants have had to deal with in recent weeks.

While they’ve mainly stayed healthy on the defensive side of the ball (with the exception of this Martinez situation), the Giants lost both left guard Shane Lemieux to a knee injury and center Nick Gates to a lower leg fracture. While the latter is certainly out for the season, the team is remaining optimistic it can return Lemieux at some point later this year.

Regardless, it being a season-ending issue for Lemieux remains a legitimate possibility.

The Giants also experienced injuries on the receiving end during the loss to the Falcons. Both Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton exited the game with hamstring issues, which paved the way for reserve wideout Collin Johnson to reel in five receptions in the defeat.