Giants TE Daniel Bellinger Gives Encouraging Update on His Eye Injury

Giants rookie tight end Daniel Bellinger is thankful his eye injury wasn't worse than it first seemed.

Author:
Joe Najarian
Publish date:
Nov 9, 2022 6:17 PM EST

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Although the New York Giants have managed a 6-2 record entering Week 10 of the NFL season, they have had to deal with injuries to numerous key players.

One of these key players to go down was tight end Daniel Bellinger, a 22-year-old rookie out of San Diego State.

A fourth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Bellinger was a steady target for quarterback Daniel Jones in the first seven games of the year. He caught 16 passes for 152 yards and a pair of touchdowns while averaging 9.5 yards per reception. Bellinger also had a 2-yard rushing touchdown, scoring on an end-around play in the Giants’ London victory against the Green Bay Packers.

But in the Giants’ 23-17 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 7, Bellinger was the victim of a freak accident. He was inadvertently poked in the eye by Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd, resulting in a fractured eye socket that required surgery.

While there was some initial concern that he might be out for the remainder of the season after the gruesome incident, the rookie is hopeful that he’ll return to the field before the end of the year.

“(There’s) no specific timeline, but (the Giants) said just go how I feel, and once the plate is more healed up with the bone,” Bellinger said in his first public comments since the injury.

“I’m confident that I can play again this season. Just getting out there running the last couple of days felt good. Really just kind of getting the swelling to go down completely, and once the eye is level with (my other) eye, the vision will be even better.”

According to Bellinger, doctors had to go under his eye and put a plate in to fix the bone. His septum also had to be fixed as well. And although the swelling has significantly decreased in the area, Bellinger said he still has slight double vision, which doctors have said is normal and will eventually dissipate.

“They said the plate is supposed to fuse to the bone,” Bellinger said. “So I’m letting that heal and going with how my vision and I feel. It’s getting better day by day.”

Bellinger said three things need to happen before he's likely to receive the green light to return. He has to wait for the swelling to dissipate completely, for the double vision to go away, and for the plate installed in his eye to fuse with the eye socket bone.

Thus far, the rookie, who wasn't placed on injured reserve, said he's been able to do some running, but he hasn't tried catching any passes yet. When he does, he said he'll wear a visor probably for the rest of his career.

Bellinger recalled being initially terrified when first poked in the eye by Jaguars defender Devin Lloyd.

“I didn’t know it was bleeding as much as it was at first. It was all numb, so I thought it was just sweat coming down. I didn’t realize it was blood until a little later,” Bellinger said.

“When it first happened, it kept getting puffy, and it was kind of numb around the eye, so I was afraid it was the actual eye. I was afraid at first, but once I got to the hospital and the doctor said the actual eye was okay, I calmed down a little bit.”

Bellinger, who called his injury a “one-in-a-million” occurrence, said he holds no ill feelings toward Lloyd, whom he said was going for the ball and who also reached out to him after the game to check in on him.

“He messaged me on Instagram and sent a nice message apologizing. He didn’t mean anything by it. I played against him in college, and I never saw him as a dirty player. I think he’s a good player, and he apologized for it, so it’s cool.”