INJURY UPDATE | Peppers Has Transverse Process Fracture; Tate Placed in Protocol

The news went from bad to worse for the Giants, who are potentially looking at being without two key players this weekend against the Packers, if not longer.

Safety Jabrill Peppers, who was thought to have injured his hip in Sunday's 19-14 loss to the Bears, suffered a transverse process fracture.

The transverse process is a wing-like bone located on the right and left side of each vertebra in the spine where some muscles and ligaments of the back attach to the spine.

Peppers is believed to have suffered his injury when he returned a kickoff on the final play of the first half. He did not play in the second half.

The Giants have not said how long Peppers will be out. Head coach Pat Shurmur, on his conference call with reporters, said he doesn't believe Peppers' injury is season-ending. "My understanding... is he can return. It's relative to pain tolerance," Shurmur said.

In other injury news, receiver Golden Tate is in the concussion protocol after getting dinged after landing awkwardly on his touchdown reception. Tate caught three out of seven targets for 33 yards, including the 23-yard touchdown in the loss to the Bears.