Kayvon Thibodeaux "Confident" He'll Be Ready for Sunday

That and two more Giants are added to the team's injury report.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Sep 15, 2022 4:50 PM EDT

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New York Giants edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux is hopeful that he'll be cleared to play this Sunday when the Giants host the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 regular-season opener.

Thibodeaux, who sprained his MCL in the Giants' second preseason game last month against the Bengals when he was blocked low by tight end Thaddeus Moss, was initially given a 3-4 week recovery time. This week would be the fourth week since his injury, and the fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft has been making progress, working in a limited capacity this week.

"It feels a lot better," Thibodeaux said of his knee. "I’ve just been making really good gains every day, just continuing to kind of bring back those reps, a different kind of motion, and getting comfortable back in my position."

For the former Oregon star, it is all about pain tolerance.

"Just trying to tolerate the pain and make sure I don’t do too much and reaggravate it," he said. "Make sure I really do everything in my capacity and just continue to try to push that envelope."

Thibodeaux's goal is to feel confident in the knee during an "uncontrolled" circumstance such as a game. So when asked if Sunday was in play, Thibodeaux, who is wearing a brace for support on his injured knee, deferred

"I wouldn’t call it unlikely," he said. "I want to make sure. We want to cross our t’s and dot our i’s before I get back out there."

He was asked if he was optimistic about his chances.

"Ultimately, it will come to how I feel come Friday and Saturday," he said. "Everything has been going well, and yeah, I’m optimistic about it."

But when asked if he could play if there was a game today, Thibodeaux smiled.

"Well, you know, the game is not today, so we will just keep taking it day to day. I was able to practice today, so I did 100 percent get better. I think that’s the goal, continue to get better every day."

Giants Add Two to Injury Report

The Giants added two players to their Thursday injury report.

Offensive lineman Devery Hamilton (illness) did not practice Thursday. And wide receiver Kadarius Toney popped up on the injury report with a hamstring issue, having practiced on a limited basis.

Toney was filmed by a fan seated behind the Giants' bench last week having his hamstring worked on by a trainer.

In their media sessions, neither head coach Brian Daboll nor Toney mentioned any physical limitations. Still, if the receiver's hamstring tightened up on him last weekend during the game, that could be another reason why Toney wasn't deployed in the plays the coaching staff had planned for him.

The rest of the Giants' injury report remained the same as Wednesday's.