New York Giants Mailbag: The "Ode to the Injury Bug" Edition

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From George B: Our Giants seem to suffer many more season-ending knee and ankle injuries than any other team! I have read numerous times that this is due to the turf in MetLife Stadium and the practice fields and that the turf in the stadium will be replaced. First, is there any truth or real theories that the turf causes these injuries, and second, is the turf going to be replaced, and if so, what will it be replaced with?

Hi George. A few things. First, if you're going off the preseason, there is no data to suggest that the Giants were the most injured team this summer. Second, I'm getting tired of this "blame the MetLife Stadium turf" argument because people are grasping at straws without looking at the whole picture.

I believe ten NFL teams use the Field Turf surface, which is what is at MetLife Stadium, and they don't seem to have the problems the Giants have. (The MetLife Stadium turf was replaced in 2019, so let's scrap that argument as well.) And while I didn't track injuries this summer, I'd be willing to bet that most of the Giants injuries that occurred happened on the GRASS practice field.

Let me share with you what general manager Joe Schoen had to say about injuries this week when the topic was brought up:

It’s football. Injuries are going to happen. We’re always evaluating every part of the process. But, again, concussions are going to happen. It’s a contact sport. You’re going to have muscle strains. It happens every year. And we can evaluate it and look at it, but again those things are going to happen no matter where you are. We’ve been at 21, 22 years, there’s injuries every training camp. But we’re going to continue to evaluate it. I mean, we had a guy get a concussion, and they both had the Guardian Caps on. There’s not a lot we can do about that. We’re trying to be as safe as we can in a situation like that, but it still happened. We’ll continue to evaluate. If there’s something we can do better, we’ll find a way to do it better.

When someone followed up with a question about if there were any changes they can point to with this new sports science team they havem Schoen said:

We spent a lot of time in the spring formulating the plan, the practice plan, monitoring the yardage – how far guys are running on a daily basis. And he probably has the statistic in terms of where we were, but I think they’re actually significantly less. Again, if Dabs wants to talk about it, he can. I think the injuries were significantly less this year than they were last year.

Look, the bottom line is football is a violent sport. I know that's not what a lot of you want to hear. But as I've said before, I'm going to track injuries a lot closer this year to the best of my ability to see where they're happening and under what circumstances.

People will point to Ronnie Barnes as the problem, but Ronnie's job is to TREAT injuries. I point to the inconsistency with the strength and conditioning staffs which have changed over with the new coaching regimes. When Aaron Wellman was here, the Giants didn't have half the injury issues they've had since. I've also questioned how guys train when they're away from the facility--are they being put through football drills, or are they doing workouts designed to give them beach bodies?

There are a lot of factors here, George. I don't know that there is any one right answer, but I get it. It's frustrating.

From Joe G.: Trade Slayton, yes. But let's be smart about it. Trade him and a draft pick to a team for a starting CB. Ours is mediocre at best. What do you think?

Joe, I'm not sure if you want my opinion on the proposed trade or if the starting cornerbacks "are mediocre at best," so I'll give you both. I think Adoree' Jackson, if healthy, will be fine.

I remain concerned that Aaron Robinson is playing out of position--he's always been a lot cornerback, and I haven't seen enough evidence to be convinced that he can be successful on the outside. I hope I'm wrong, though.

As for your proposed trade, I'm sorry, but I do not see any team trading a starting caliber cornerback for a receiver who is a three or four at best. And I'm not endorsing the trade of a draft pick either, not when this team has enough holes it still needs to address.

From Andrew G.: I'm glad you are feeling better from covid. I know it must have been awful, but so happy you pulled through. My wife sends her best wishes as well. Aaron Robinson hasn't been impressive. Do you think he will get replaced? And heard OBJ wouldn't rule out a comeback. Money aside, would you want him back if healthy?

Thanks, Andrew. COVID was [pretty rough--I think the last time I got that sick was when I was in my late 20s, and I got the flu--it took me about a month to fully get back to myself, so while I am better, there are still little things I'm addressing that I know COVID created. (Can't be too careful, right?)

Do I think Aaron Robinson gets replaced? No. I mean, right now, who on the roster are you going to replace him with? This team is cap-strapped, so I can't see it affording a top-notch starting-caliber cornerback. I mean, isn't that how the team got into this mess, to begin with, by screwing its cap, which forced the general manager to cut its top cornerback, thus creating a hole the size of the Grand Canyon on the roster?

And I don't get this fascination with people wanting OBJ back, given the circumstances. The guy tore his ACL in February. He's probably not going to be ready to play for a while yet and certainly won't be the player he was before the injury (which, by the way, is his second torn ACL, if I'm not mistaken). This team has far bigger issues and little money to deal with them.

I get the sentiments--OBJ was a fan favorite and was fun to watch when he was here, but I think it's time we all look at the reality of the situation, and that is, OBJ alone isn't going to push this team toward Super Bowl contention this year.

From Jon G.: Who is most likely to start at left guard for the Giants at Tennessee? Devery Hamilton has looked good this preseason but doesn’t have much experience. Jack Anderson looked good last year when playing with Philadelphia vs. Dallas, but I think most, if not all, of his snaps came at center or right guard. Will Ezeudu be healthy enough?

What's up, Jon? I wish I had an answer for you, but right now, I don't. I still don't know what Ezeudu's injury is--and even if he's healthy enough, you face the same situation as you do with Hamilton and Anderson not having a lot of experience at left guard.

That said, I'll probably get a better feel for what direction they're headed this coming week, but right now, I can't even put forth a guess until I have more information regarding Ezeudu's injury status.

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