The vibe surrounding the Giants right now compared to this same time last year is night and day. Big Blue does have a crucial offseason ahead. There will be tough decisions to make with Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley in the coming weeks. However, the organization finally appears to be back on track.
Having Joe Schoen, Brian Daboll, and Co. come in to change the culture from top to bottom and have it punctuated with a return to the NFL Playoffs will do that. One thing that didn’t change this past year, though? The frequency in which Giants players went down with ACL injuries.
The wide-receiver room was decimated because both Sterling Shepard and Wan’Dale Robinson suffered season-ending injuries about two months apart. They weren’t the only ones who tore their ACL this past year, though. In addition to Shepard and Robinson, the following players also dealt with the same fate: cornerback Aaron Robinson, defensive tackle D.J. Davidson, guard Marcus McKethan, and linebacker Darrian Beavers.
That number led the league in 2022. The Denver Broncos (five) were the only other NFL team with at least five ACL tears last season. Big Blue also led the league in this category in 2021 with five. And since 2019? There have been 19 ACL tears within the organization, (h/t Giantswire):
Here is the list of every torn ACL documented in the NFL by team since 2013 ? pic.twitter.com/AXem1d9sqb
— ACL Recovery Club (@ACLrecoveryCLUB) February 21, 2023
That’s not great, Bob.
While not all of these ACL tears happened at MetLife Stadium, the turf in East Rutherford has been criticized by players for quite a while. The NFLPA cited a study back in November that the type of turf at MetLife (called slit-film turf) puts players at a greater risk for lower-body injuries. This isn’t the only place around the league that has this type of turf installed in their home stadium. But it is the only place that acts as the home to two NFL teams.
However, it’s interesting that the Jets have only had two documented ACL tears since 2019. And, the one that occurred in 2022 was rookie running back Breece Hall. His injury happened in Denver while facing the Broncos.
Days after that report was made public, a plan was announced to have the turf replaced at MetLife in time for Week 1 of the 2023 regular season. Hopefully, this change will lead to a noticeable decrease in ACL tears for Big Blue heading into the future.
Matt Musico can be reached at matt.musico@xlmedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
