Giants Searching for Answers to Chronic Injury Problem

Head coach Brian Daboll is determined to keep the players as healthy as possible. That starts with trying to figure out why the team has been so snakebit of late when it comes to injuries.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Apr 4, 2022 4:14 PM EDT

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New York Giants

How bad has the New York Giants injury situation been over the last five seasons?

If there was a way to exchange ten injuries for an extra win, the Giants would have the best won-loss record in the league over that period.

In other words, it’s been really bad. According to the website ManGamesLost, which tracks games lost due to injury and illness, the Giants have finished in the top-10 league-wide every year since 2017, averaging 282 man-games lost.

Los Angeles Rams outside linebacker Leonard Floyd (54) knocks the ball out of New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones' (8) hand resulting in a fumble, recovered by the Giants, in the first half. The Giants fall to the Rams, 38-11, at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021, in East Rutherford. — Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

After posting a high of 388 man-games lost in 2017 when they finished second that year, the Giants managed to get that number down a bit, keeping it under 260 per season. But last year, that number shot up to 356, which put them first in the NFL.

That’s a statistical trend the team would rather not have any part of and one that head coach Brian Daboll said they’re trying to figure out.

“Yeah, we've had plenty of meetings on that,” Daboll said. “We're gonna do whatever we can do as a coaching staff and an organization to help that.

“We went back the last few years to look at it. You look at how you schedule practice, how you ramp guys up when they get here for phase one to phase two, the hydration portion of it, the teaching aspect of it--we've looked at all the areas that encompass injuries. You're never guaranteed, but we're certainly gonna try our best to make sure that our players are as healthy as they can be for us on Sundays.”

A member of the New York Jets grounds crew blows off the artificial turf before the Green Bay Packers game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018, in East Rutherford. — Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

There have been some questions regarding the role of MetLife Stadium turf, which was replaced after the 2019 season. But not all of the Giants injuries have been of the lower body variety, and not all of those lower-body injuries have occurred on an artificial surface.

Most notably, running back Saquon Barkley suffered his torn ACL on the grass surface of Chicago’s Soldier Field. And linebacker Blake Martinez, who tore his ACL on the turf last year, attributed his injury to using worn-out cleats that led to his foot sliding around in the shoe.

While some might argue that the Giants have merely been a victim of bad luck, the consecutive years of finishing in the top 10 league-wide certainly warrant further attention.

Dec 19, 2021; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Sterling Shepard (3) is driven off of the field after an injury during the second half against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. — Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Receiver Sterling Shepard, who suffered a late-season Achilles injury last year on the MetLife Stadium turf, said that in the team’s meeting earlier in the day, one topic that came up was head injuries.

“In the team meeting today, we went over some stuff about what guys can wear on the field and stuff,” he said. “Head injuries are something that has always been a thing in the league, and I know they have those caps and stuff now that guys can choose to wear. That’s pretty much all that is.”

The Giants are sure to further explore the subject and, as Daboll said, make adjustments to the program he’s set up as circumstances warrant.

New York Giants inside linebacker Blake Martinez (54) is helped off the field in the first half at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021, in East Rutherford. — Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com via Imagn Content Services, LLC

“I think you have to be flexible really in every aspect of this job because there are going to be things that pop up that you're not anticipating,” Daboll said. “It’s no different than game-planning for an opponent week to week. Those things change.

“I think you have to have flexibility in the job that I'm in right now. How many people are hurt at the secondary position versus how much we ran with the GPS at the receivers? I think you have to take a day-to-day approach and evaluate where you're at and do the best thing for your players.”